June Happies or Not So Much

I am happy to have softer weather, blooming flowers, and trees leafing out to their full head of green. Life is Good.

Not so much. Oil from the BP Gulf Oil Spill is nine miles from Pensacola. We share the barrier island with Pensacola so oil is expected to foul our beaches soon. We've already found oiled birds.

And, it's hurricane season. We expect any hurricane traveling through the slick to transport oil even back into our little bayou.

And there is still no solution to shut off oil, never mind clean it all up.

So, this Monday was May, but the latest repercussions came today - on Monday was the attack on Ship to Gaza, with an acquaintance of mine assumed dead; my laptop died the death of malfunctioning hard disc; son vomited over everything; a tooth broke.

The happy is my friend is still alive, albeit in Israeli prison, but the unhappy is the tooth set me back 1350 SEK (no converter handy on this laptop, but think "lotsa money", OK?). This was earlier today - I'm just back from the dentist's and still can't articulate well...
And I still haven't heard anything regarding my work laptop. (Son's fine, the nausea was temporary.)

Also unhappy because the bike mechanic called me earlier to tell me they had to wait for spare parts. Now, I knew they would need to order them so two weeks ago I tried to made sure they did just that, to be prepared when I left my bike with them May 29.
Apparently they didn't listen }:(
(Replacing the gears is what they are paid to do)

Oh well.

10 school days left :D

13 school days left here; don't know if that makes me happy, or not so much

Happy here that my wife found a new job, after 3 months at home.
Busifer (and anyone else): I use http://www.xe.com/ucc/ for currency conversion (and, in fact, google did it when I tried that too). $172 for one tooth...isn't that a fresh toothache?

Happies: My family begins to arrive for favorite daughter's wedding on Friday! The dress is done! My mom is finally walking again, after breaking her leg in April of 2009. The weather looks like it will be wonderful for the wedding, which will be in a park.

Unhappies: None of her father's family is able to make it. His mom is undergoing knee surgery this week, and his dad isn't well enough to travel alone, and neither of his brothers will be coming.

Biggest unhappy is that my dad didn't live long enough to make it to the wedding. I know he really wanted to.

GN: It's a bit cooler, just enough that I don't need to run the AC. Still a lovely day with sun and blue sky and fully-leaved trees visible out my window.

GN the French Open. Some interesting upsets, some near ones. Nadal getting some competition but looks likely to prevail.

BN: My thumb knuckle hurts. Have no idea if it's a sprain or arthritis or some other -itis. At least it's easier to type than it is to write with it.

started happy, I finally got to the doctors, got my meds, took my check in for deposit kept out a little spending cash, then went to get scrips and had to spend that because my card says not available then daughter calls all happy because the spending money was going to be for going shopping with her, I promised her flowers, now I don't have it and she's pissed, not sure if it'll be today or tommorrow before I can access my card. I could go to the bank and demand my money I guess, but daughter's being pissed at me and hanging up on me saying I always make excuses has me in tears

Hugs for polly. And happy dance for BethyB and the upcoming wedding! We want pictures!

I am happy to have the internet working again at home, happy that I got to work today. Just little stuff, but good stuff.

Off topic, but what do I do if I red x'd a topic I didn't really want to x?

just go to the topics tab and find that topic and hit the x again.

GN I picked up more applications for a job.
GN I went to donate blood.
BN the person sticking me with the needle had to use both arms and the blood wasn't coming out fast enough so we decided to quit before it filled the bag. That and she kept wiggling the needle. Now both my arms are sore. :(

Happy: Hit the charity shops on Tuesday and added another 8 books to my tbr. Averaged out at £2 each. Must've been science fiction week at Bernado's as I picked up Anathem, Black Man and Singularity Sky. Even managed to cross off a couple or three entries on my wants list.

happier, daughter called and apologised, all is well now

Happy: My house is my house once more

Happy2: I've found a new sitter for the kids that can come pretty much whenever I need him. Katie thinks he's great and Vincent was already asleep for his nap when i came in this afternoon.

Happy 3 : I did a photo shoot today and the pics look fantastic!

Happy 4: The Managa that I want should be in, in a weeks time!

Happy 5: The weather report says that it will be clear and sunny tomorrow so I should be able to take the kids swimming or to the park for the day!

unhappy: The digital camera that I won off ebay arrived but without a usb cable so not helpful.

Unhappy 2: my house is a big mess and I don't have the energy or the will power to clean.

Does this mean your squatter/lodger is gone for good? I hope so!

unhappy: The woman that has adjusted my glasses for the past 20 years retired sometime in the past year while I was away at school. She was amazing, the woman could seriously look at my face with my glasses on, look at it with them off, and adjust them so they fit perfectly first try. Walked down to the clinic today to have someone else do it, but turned around before I got there.

unhappy 2 (related): My glasses definitely need to get adjusted, they've been sliding down my nose for the past month or so. Maybe after the books my Guru bought me come tomorrow I'll walk down there in the afternoon again.

happy: I've got over 13,000 steps so far today (I carry a pedometer), which is extremely unusual for me, given how sedentary I tend to be. Plus, the day's not even over yet.

happy 2: Expecting books in the mail tomorrow! :)

Unhappy: I've been headachy on-and-off all day today. Woke up with what I thought was a migraine. It got better, or maybe just moved to the other side? It's fairly hot and humid for early June and that's miserable, too. Maybe I'm dehydrated . . .

Happy: I found out that someone I know from back home is apparently going to be at Origins Game Fair, which is reasonably near to me. So now I'm trying to decide whether to go, and make a mini-vacation of the trip.

Unexpected: I've been wanting to buy a new bed for many years now, but keep putting the project on hold due to finances. While researching options today, I tried out a "therapeutic" high-end mattress.

I said to the sales guy, "I don't want to know how much this costs, do I?'

He said, "No, you don't."

I got up and he showed me the price. I said, "I'll buy one of these when I win the lottery." It was $4500 for the mattress-box spring set.

But I also did find something that I may be able to afford, and now have to ponder whether to upgrade from my current situation.

I've been wanting to buy a new bed for many years now, but keep putting the project on hold due to finances.

Ditto. Right now I'm sleeping on my son's newer bed while he's away to see if it makes a difference in my soreness factor.

I tried some of the expensive mattresses when I went with friends to help them choose a new bed (not as dodgy as it sounds...). The expensive ones were comfortable in a whole different category to what I'm used to. I'm a bit of a fussy sleeper - I really don't like sleeping on couches and floors unless I have to - so it has become a desire of mine to one day be able to afford a big, expensive mattress.

Count me in on wanting an expensive bed--my fantasy is a king-sized memory foam (Tempurpedic) mattress. Maybe I could sleep for more than three or four hours at a time then.

Unhappiness - today was my last regular day of paid work. I have two small bits of paid work (2 days and 1 week respectively), but after that, I'm in flux. I can't wait to hear back about a possibility of work. If I don't get that, I'll be applying for cheap&dodgy work and unemployment benefits (and hoping I don't run into too many of my students).

Happy - spent yesterday in Hay on Wye. Some book-buying but mostly loafing about in the sun reading (when memory dies, one of the new aquisitions). Finished off the day with a Orquesta Buena Vista Social Club gig, who were just amazing.

#22 Good luck with the job hunting

happy - baby is measuring to size and confirms that i'm 13 weeks expecting and due 12 December! Yay!

unhappy - nausea, omg, it's not just confined to the morning. And working in an office where I can't just walk around in my undies like I do at home. Jeans unbuttoned and 1/2 unzipped, must retain some dignity for now, though I know that'll go soon :

Happy - I had a great time hanging out with friends on Monday (sprained foot notwithstanding)

Unhappy - the woman I was going to get an apartment with has backed out due to financial issues (not unreasonably) and I have to go back to finding my own apartment. Which as an unemployed person is much more difficult, even with gainfully employed parents who are willing to cosign the lease. Sigh.

Sigh...another one of my soldiers from Iraq is having a bad time of it. He was discharged after we got back and went back to teaching grammar school, his original profession. His wife left him and did something that got him fired. Unemployment has repeatedly denied his applications since January. The poor guy is so desperate that he's thinking of going back to the Army and volunteering for Afghanistan.

I will see him this weekend and see what I can do to help him out. Even though he's no longer in, I will not let any soldier of mine down. I can't. None of them are my responsibility any more, but Old Sarge has to do something. To do any less would be to fail them and dishonorable in my eyes. I took care of them for years, both stateside and in combat. I feel responsible for them even as civilians, especially as I have discovered they still look up to me, come to me for help & advice, and respect me.

I must have done something right and been a better NCO than I thought. It has been a year this past Tuesday that we landed back stateside and these kids are still contacting me for help. A few of them weren't even under my command.

Wow, we've been back in the "real world" a year now. It seems like just yesterday and ages ago at the same time. The sense of dislocation was overwhelming at the time. We flew out of Iraq on a Sunday afternoon and landed in the states on Monday afternoon. Twenty-four hours from combat zone to quietly turning in our weapons, which were very hard to let go of as they had literally become part of our bodies. Far too many of us are still over there in our heads.

On a good note, Mr. Groo will be passing through this weekend and we are planning to hang out.

Congratulations, viciouslittlething. New babies to read to - what a joy!

I have faith in you, Will. It's gonna work out.

Sarge: I'm not surprised at all. Your "kids" know you will always have their backs. Have a great time with Groo. Hoist one for me.

v.l.t. - the sooner you get yourself the pregnancy pants with stretch front, the happier you'll be! The morning sickness will end.

Congratulations, viciouslittlething!

Congrats, viciouslittlething; sorry about the nausea. My mother suffered with it horribly but still was pregnant seven times (two miscarriages, five kids). I have no idea why, but as the fifth kid, I'm grateful (even though I was definitely unplanned!).

Good luck with work, Will; I know the feeling all too well. Have been sending out feelers for freelance work for weeks/months and mostly not even getting any response at all.

Sarge, do what you can do for others without tearing your heart out to do it. And have a great time with Groo, I love it when LT'ers get together in real life. One of these days . . .

Happy: Got back from having lunch with my best friend and his fiance to find the package from Amazon I've been waiting for sitting on my front porch.

Yep the Squatter/lodger is gone for good. There are no other people in the house now aside from me and my family :)

I have no plans to let anyone else stay. I've decided that I've done enough to help out those friends who needed it . I can't do it anymore.

Happy: the new iPad my wife ordered for my birthday came in two days early! I'm in heaven...

#26 OldSarge--very often the people who have the most impact for good, don't even realize they're doing it. Obviously you're in that category.

#32 Sometimes, you just gotta say no.

Not the most exciting birthday, but I figure my upcoming vacation is my birthday present. I'm almost wishing they would move the office while I'm gone. I had payroll to get done today, and three people roaming around my work area discussing which desks, files, cabinets, etc. are really needed and who gets what. At one point a mover came by checking things out so he could make an estimate. IT'S PAYROLL PEOPLE!!! Stop talking about shelving when I'm trying to crunch numbers!!!! Biggest unhappy about the move--I was originally told I'd have my own office, but (big surprise) that's not happening.

Happy--my son did buy me a Willow Ridge figurine. Not terribly original, but he did try.

Happy: Checked my grades today, and the grade for my Philosophy of Religion class, which I was freaking out a bit over was posted. Got a C+ which, given its my favorite subject is kind of a downer, but at least I passed, especially taking a 400 level seminar after not taking philosophy for two years.

Unhappy: teenage angst. I don't feel like elaborating, but wow, what an emotional roller coaster. I'm so tired of this.

Happy: I got to see my physical therapist today and I feel much better. Hope it lasts a while.

Congratulations, viciouslittlething! How I loved being pregnant! But then I barely had any nausea, just couldn't stand the smell of fresh baked french bread, which made shopping in supermarkets pretty unpleasant at certain times of the day.

Hugs to those in need,

#24 - the nausea will pass but you are right, so will the dignity. Mine disappeared at my 12 week check when the doctor sent a nurse for an anglepoise lamp "for more light to get a better view" and then invited the whole world to take a look too. You don't get that dignity back. I thought it would all be better once the baby was born but Joseph has other ideas. All worth it though. Congratulations.

I'm having a "feeling a bit daft day." I have four stitches in my chin and the worlds biggest, brightest plaster covering them up, so I look a bit silly and feel a bit sore.

The happy: youngest granddaughter graduates from high school today.

The not so much: Unfortunately the venue is horrible (large sports auditorium, lousy acustics for this, horrible parking and therefore traffic jams. We endured it just last year for the eldest granddaughter so will do again tonight.

It occurs to me that many of the previous posts fall under the broad category of "things we do for love." Bless you all for that!

#36 Hugs. Would you like a little teenage testosterone to go with the angst? He's at "get irritated with mom for saying anything other than hello" phase.

Yeah, can't wait for that one! We're just full of PMS over here, so that will be a LOVELY change.

And then, just when I'm ready to be up all night worrying (thank goodness for sleep aids that work!), I wake up today and everything is wonderful!

My gray hair is no surprise.

I am working on a charm quilt, which is a quilt in which no fabric is repeated, this one is made of 1600 triangles. I've been collecting the fabric for 6 years, and thought I had carefully counted what was needed before beginning the sewing. And the count was no where near correct...too many of some colors, and not enough of others. So I've been raiding the fabric stash at our church quilting group, and going to the fabric store to buy more. And I am finally on the last row of blocks...and am short 12 brown triangles. I really really really wanted to finish this quilt top tonight!!! Also, I've found that there are a couple of duplicates. To which I say "Oh, well." It's not going to be taken apart. This was begun for my daughter's high school graduation. She is now 26.

So I'll go back to the fabric store tomorrow. Sigh. In the meantime, the dining table is piled high with fabric, the carpet is full of scraps and thread & needs vacuuming, the kitchen floor needs mopping, and the bathroom is in desperate need a thorough cleaning. When I'm in the mood to sew, nothing else gets done. The plan had been to finish the quilt tonight so housework could be done tomorrow. Oh well.

Happy! This was sent to me by one of my former bosses:

"Today Crown and the Jean Naggar Literary Agency announced that the sixth and final book of the record-breaking, bestselling Earth's Children series will be published on March 29, 2011. Titled The Land of the Painted Caves, the book will be published in both hardcover and e-book editions, and in a rare move, it will be published simultaneously in all territories, in a one-day laydown, orchestrated by Jennifer Weltz and the Naggar Agency, with deals so far in the U.K., Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, Japan, Norway, Serbia, Spain, and Sweden."

Finally! Ayla gets to invent the wheel (I'm guessing . . .).

>44 ejj1955: *swoons*

is this the series by Jean Auel?9i think that the name. started with Clan of the Cave Bear?

That is the very one, Polly. I liked the first three books, didn't really like the fourth one (that was mostly traveling to get back to Jondalar's people) and thought the fifth one was okay. I am quite curious about how Auel wraps up the story--I expect it will be a huge book.

Happy: Back on campus and for all intents and purposes moved into summer housing.

Unhappy: I've gotten so used to living in a nice apartment, its going to be weird being back in a single dormroom. Of course, it'll only be a couple months, then back to an apartment next year, though it won't be quite as nice as this one.

Happy -I went for my annual checkup, and my doctor said I am "ridiculously" healthy. He gave me a copy of my lab work because he said it needed to be framed. He told me to go out and eat something fried and fattening. The doctor is a family friend. :)

Happy - I'm finally well rested and relaxed after a very stressful school year. My students' state mandated test results were great.

Frustration - It would be nice to meet someone who has the same interests I have. I do enjoy being alone from time to time, but it can get old quickly. I live in a very small town and know too much about everyone. Clearly, I must venture out!

OldSarge - You have obviously touched many lives in positive ways. I hope your own struggles are becoming easier.

Hugs for everyone out there!

GD: congrats on the test results. I know the heart-felt hugs from students mean so much more but the good test results are rewarding, too. And "outsiders" will know how good you are and how hard your kids work for you.

Happy: The Indianapolis Lupus walk was a HUGE success! We had the same number of walkers as last year but raised more money! 100% of that money goes to lupus research. Whoo hoo!

Unhappy/happy: It rained throughout the whole walk on Saturday. But we had a blast in the rain! It made it an adventure. :)

VERY happy: I was able to do a cartwheel at the lupus walk yesterday!! I have not been able to do that since I started chemo in 2003. I am not the most athletic people (and never have been) but I have always loved to just bust out with a cartwheel...and I did it...it was even caught on video so I will always remember it. :)

I'm happy that I managed to get through an hour's dance class on my poor feet, and I didn't have to sit anything out and I didn't injure myself any further, although I did request that we stick to slower dances today.

I'm also glad my sunburned shoulders have stopped hurting. That's going to make life easier!

Happy: I'm really pleased that the front garden bed got worked up yesterday, and I'm really hoping I can get the tomato plants in the ground tomorrow. They are crying out for good soil and sun! It rained all day yesterday and the soil is still really wet, but it was a nice afternoon so fingers crossed for planting tomorrow.

I had such a headache today, but I got to sleep most of the day, so I'm happier now.

I'm happy just coz - I like these days :)

I recently finished, and just reviewed Guns, Germs and Steel and was surprised to find that the wheel was invented independently of Eurasia in Mexico, but since they had no pack animals it had no function but its use on children's toys. See, you read a book, you learn something. Being Eurasian, though, I'm sure Ayla will put her wheel to great use.

umhappy: Getting stuff put away in summer quarters and realizing I don't have stuff here I thought I'd packed, that I should have kept many more books out of storage than I did so I could fill the shelves. Instead, my dad railroaded me, and I find out that there are a ton of books in the collection that he just grabbed out of boxes. Its late, I was up early, and I know I should wait to deal with this until tomorrow, but I've got work tomorrow, and still haven't done the paperwork they asked me for.

Happy/Unhappy. Due to time planning constraints my boyfriend and I have pretty much decided not to go on holiday this year. We have a nice piggy bank of money saved/coming in that we usually spend on the holiday, so that is left over for now.
So last Friday we bought the biggest TV we found reasonable (in size and price) and a blu-ray player and decided we will enjoy that for the summer.
Adding to that a new iMac (which I will order tonight after Jobs keynote), a new iPad (as soon as it comes out here in July), a new iPhone (I am sure it comes out this summer) and we should be able to entertain ourselves at home.
And happy that we know that some of the neighbors will spend the summer far far far away so we will have some quiet time...

Unhappy because it is just too hot. I know 25 degrees (celsius) is heaven for most, but my internal thermostat is weird so I am just hot and sick all the time. Give me winter and freezing!

Decidedly unhappy: We have a spider problem in our bedroom. I've woken up several nights now feeling one crawling on me! Ack! Anyone have any good toddler-/pet-safe ways to get rid of them? I've read that spiders don't like eucalyptus, so I'm going today to get some eucalyptus oil to spritz the bedsheets and I'll also soak some cottonballs with the oil and put them under the bed (after a good-and-thorough vacuuming under there!). Any other suggestions?

> 59 I cringe to ask this question, but the topic is serious and needs to be treated seriously (especially if you have babies). Have you actually seen the spiders? As in, turned on the lights and looked? Because if not, might you instead have bedbugs? - A much, much nastier problem to fight. They love to hide under mattresses and in tight upholstery places, but come out at night to bite and suck blood.

ETA: They don't magically appear, and certainly are not limited to "dirty" people. They also infest hotels and catch a ride home with people in luggage. New York City famously has had nasty infestations that made the news last year.

#60: LOL! When I started to read your post, I thought you were going to say something like I may be hallucinating them! But I have eye-witnessed that they are in fact spiders.

a friend of mine washed everything in eucalyptus oil and then got some bug bombs.

For the bug bombs its just like flee bombs. Every thing living in the house has to be moved out, all the windows shut and the bombs set off.

After that Vacuum very very thoroughly. That sorted out her problem nicely.

Very Big Happy - My son surprised me by showing up yesterday for an overnight visit. He had today off so he came to pick up a few things and just spend some time at "home." He left a few minutes ago.

Happy - Going to my 4th tae-kwon-do lesson tonight. My gi came in so I'll be dressed like the rest of the class for the first time.

Happy - My tickets to see "The Phantom of the Opera" at The Fox in Atlanta arrived. My tickets to see "The Taming of the Shrew" at the Georgia Shakespeare Theater also arrived! Whoo hoo! I'm going with friends from home. We will spend two days in Atlanta going to the theaters. I am very excited about that!

#63 Never heard of a gi before. Very different mental picture to ghee, which was the nearest I knew :-)

HAHAHAHA! Yes, very different. This is the white, cotton pants and jacket. In South Georgia, we just wear the pants and t-shirt without the jacket. It's too hot for the jacket, too!

Spiders? I'd use a flamethrower.

#59. Do. Not. Move. To. Florida. That is all.

#62: Working on the washing everything in eucalyptus oil right now. We're gonna try to avoid the bombs if we can.

#66: LOL! Do us all a favor and don't go into the pest-control business!

#67: No problem, majkia - spiders would be the least of my worries in Florida (I have a full-blown and very serious phobia of snakes and all reptiles, so FL is definitely out of the question).

I found a spider at work today. I squished it without any trouble. I don't love spiders, but they don't scare me as much as other things. Scorpions, heck yeah. And earwigs. For different reasons, but still, I really hate earwigs.

Earwigs are plain, flat-out disgusting. But how can you hate spiders after Charlotte's Web?

A happy. Browsing the shelves in B&N today and discovered The Amish Cook's Baking Book. Only one copy. Secured it, tactically made my way to the register, and made my purchase before anyone else saw it. I would have fought my way out of the store calling arty and air support if necessary, LOL.

There are only two styles of baking that truly appeal to me. Amish because it's as simple as possible, tastes great, and is done the good old fashioned way. I am also in love with Scandinavian style baking. Some of it requires real work, but again it's down home simple and a lot of it is meant to be enjoyed with coffee and guests.

way to go, Old Sarge! I like the sound of Amish cooking, I need to get a book on it seeing as I live just a couple hundred miles from lancaster Pa

Spiders do eat some of the bugs we really don't like. I usually just use my feather duster in all the corners of the room, frequently. Knock their webs down often enough and I think they get the hint and move out.

I support your trying to avoid bug bombs. We seriously do not need more insecticides in the environment. I got rid of sugar ants one summer in the kitchen where I was working by spraying vinegar all over the place. Ants do not like vinegar. Maybe spiders would hate it too?

I vacuum thoroughly for spiders, but they don't bother me too much. I squish the ones I need to. I also hope fervently that they don't just crawl back out of the vacuum when I turn it off.

I want to see the movie of OldSarge in the pest control business, and finding special books at the bookstore. :)

What baffles me is that I'm pretty neurotic about cleaning and vacuuming, so it's not as if the spiders have plenty of dust and dirt to romp in. At any rate, we recleaned everything, of course, spritzed the entire room with eucalyptus, and last night there were no unwelcome critters and the room smells like San Francisco in the Spring!

Yay!! Spiders are just looking for "shelter from the storm".

Flat tire! Seriously! Flat tire at 1am!!

Luckily I'd been talking to a friend just previously and I could just follow him into the gas station he stopped at and call AAA, and he was sweet enough to stay until the AAA guy came and changed the tire (and put air in the spare, 'cause I've had several flats in the past couple of years). I have great friends, I really do.

But seriously! Flat tire at 1am! Gah!

Spiders are the creepiest things on the planet. Mix them with crickets and you get my nightmares. A few years ago we had an infestation of camel back spiders. I call them cricket spiders because they jump and are not afraid to jump right at you.
The infestation was in the basement where my bedroom just happened to be. I slept with a can of Raid beside my bed every night and woke up several times to find them crawling on the floor or the walls.
For some reason those things looked even more creepier when they were dead, alien even. I HATE them and cringe now thinking about them.

We have tons of spiders. Mostly very very small ones that jump. They jump on you from trees or plants outside and thus get transported inside on you or your pets.

I have almost no problems with them, other than I'm slightly allergic to their bite so get a welt when they bite me that lasts several days.

I'd far rather share the planet with spiders than with Florida waterbugs, think giant cockroaches. They too live outside, but find their way in quite often. You haven't lived until you've had a 4 to 6 inch one flying at your face and/or landing on you. I've stayed awake at night when one lands on the ceiling in the bedroom, too afraid he'd fall off and land on me.

Spider bites are nasty. We have some spider around here that tends to give bites that get infected. Both husband and I have had nasty bites.

Ugh, I had one on my hand once. Took a long time to heal and the damage was under the skin.

I don't have much problem with spiders as long as they are not over my head in my bedroom. But they are welcome to the corners of the living room and kitchen, where I assume they are consuming other insects that I don't want around.

On the other hand . . . I've twice had bats in my house (other than the attic--I don't go up there so if they are there, I don't know about it). And there's the pitter-patter of little feet above my head at night--I'm assuming mice but don't actually know. Both of these bother me far, far more than any spider. Rodents. Euuw.

I woke up this morning to a tiny ant invasion. Son left a soda can on the counter and the ants were marching THROUGH the trap to the can. I sprayed them with vinegar, but they seemed to thing that was the perfect condiment. Sort of a sweet & sour thing. So I sprayed them with Fabreeze. Stopped them dead in their tracks and my kitchen smells lovely.

Unhappy that my laptop has a virus and is in the shop.

Happy that MrsLee has shared a useful household tip because I too have issues with ants!

I live in employer-supplied housing, and they also pay an exterminator (mostly bugs) to visit quarterly. About a year ago, he says, "you know you've had a snake in here . . ." He pointed to a cast (shed skin) the snake left twined around an extension cord. The exterminator went on to say that it's almost impossible to catch a snake, as they are so quick. If you even see them . . .

I had to ask, what kind of snake, and is it a danger to my cat? We have two major kinds of snakes around here - black snakes which eat mostly rodents, and copperheads which are irritable and poisonous. The exterminator told me it was almost certainly a black snake and no, it won't hurt the cat. And reiterated - it's almost impossible to catch a snake.

Now, a lot of people around here are seriously creeped out by the idea that I live in a house with a snake at all, much less a loose wild snake. I, on the other hand, am much more creeped out by spiders and critters with > 6 legs like centipedes. With a snake, I figure, better mouse control. When and if it runs out of food, it will leave. It's not like it's going to start stalking me. And they don't spread disease as rodents can.

And besides, now I have two snake casts to use for show-and-tell.

ETA: and more humane and natural mouse control. Ever seen a mouse/rodent trying to escape one of those sticky traps, crying out in fear and pain? Made me cry for a whole afternoon.

If I had a snake in my house I would move. Urg. A friend of mine kept finding baby rattlesnakes in her house. They figure a whole group of them hatched in her garage. Not nice.

We have killed 2 snakes that came inside of our fence so far this year. Of course, when I mention this to the fellas at work they keep telling me the black snakes are harmless :P

Unhappy: my vacation is over

Happy: part of my vacation was spent in Ilulissat, where I had an experience af a lifetime. I don't think I will ever see more beautiful nature.

I was certain to establish that the likely snake species was the nonpoisonous one. Things would be completely different if it were a copperhead or rattlesnake.

/Soapbox
For those who hate snakes enough to kill them, maybe give some good thought as to why that is. They are as vital a part of the food chain or web-of-life as is anything. I think we succumb to inherited prejudices that reach so far back in our cultural mythos that we don't even know why. (FWIW, I think the Anglo/Euro-American prejudice against snakes is rooted in religious heritage, but following GD rules I'll leave it at that.)

I don't like spiders because their abundance of legs creeps me out; but I don't kill spiders every time I see them, and I don't even kill every spider that comes into my house. As long as they stay out of my way, and they're not poisonous, I tend to leave them alone.
/end Soapbox

Happy: Another dry day so I think I will be able to plant the tomatoes this afternoon. Yay!

#89 walk2work: I don't hate snakes; I'm *terrified* by them. And I want them dead. It's a phobia, and there's no reasoning with that. I understand the foodchain/importance of snakes business, but I still say the only good snake is a dead one, and even then it's no good and I'd still be terrified by it's horrible dead body. I very much wish that I were not so afraid of them, but I can't help it.

Well, phobias are different, yes. In fact, I just posted on the LOL thread that I would never use be able to use a library pictured there as a concept, because of my fear of falling. In fact, even the picture seems a little evil to me - luring booklovers to the slippery slope of certain death because of a curving edge down into an abyss. . .

Multiple happies - New ghost huntin' equipment!! I may be in my cave for a bit.

Either that or let my 2 dogs go out and 'play' with them as they do with the frogs they encounter.

One winters day in a farmhouse we had just moved into, my xhusband jumped up from the couch and snatched up a snake a little rat snake. It turns out that my son had brought seven of them into the house that he had found in the barn because he didn't want them to freeze out there. I was petrified but we found and captured all seven, plus my X caught a rat snake in the woods one day and another time he caught a copperhead along a trail, so I think your exterminator was just afraid of snakes.
My son was bit on the chin by a brown recluse spider that kept him in the hosital for six weeks.

I feel very fortunate. We have mice but the feral cats keep them away. We have small, harmless garter snakes and as far as I know that is all. We have birds. Hummingbirds. Butterflies. Bees. Some small ants. Nothing much to worry me. The only thing that really upsets me is the carpenter ants which can eat your house. I mean eat the house, the whole house (if it is made of wood).

ejj1955

If you can actually hear the pitter patter of feet it's probably squirrels. Especially in your attic.

@maggie1944, we have hummingbirds as well (they love the hibiscus and we have several feeders). We also had a family of robins in our birdhouse until recently. Over the last week we have seen rabbits and deer. I love sitting outside in the evening listening to the chimes. One thing I wish I saw more of is fireflies (they are few and far between); I remember them fondly from my childhood.

>96 OldSarge: That's what my neighbor, a fount of practical knowledge, said, too--he thought flying squirrels. Cuter rodents, basically--not sure why a bushy tail is so much more appealing than the thin hairless one.

It's not my attic, though, it's my second floor. I don't spend much time up there but I do have tenants now in the guest bedroom, and while people are around, I don't hear the little feet. But when I do, it does freak me out quite a bit.

In Australia, the pitter patter of tiny feet is possums. Nasty critters. Endangered, my foot! But they are cute.

I only kill spiders if they're on me or coming after me. I hate flies much more than spiders. I did actually have one on me the other day. I put my dressing gown on and was making breakfast when I felt a tickle on my little finger. A spider had walked down my dressing gown and up my hand. Even I was a little crept out by that. *shudder*

>89 walk2work: Most Indo-European mythologies demonize serpents (or their cousin, the dragon) in some way.

100 - Have you ever come across How to Kill a Dragon by Calvert Watkins? I think you'd like it. Ooh, reminder. You need about 6 weeks of lectures.

>101 Choreocrat:
You brain tickler! That looks to be right up my alley.

"Pitter-patter" of little feet above my bedroom tends to be crows. They love my roof for some reason. And they can be very busy up there.

I wonder which came first: our fear of creepy crawlies or our religious and mythological demonization? In other words, did we make up the stories because we were afraid, or are we afraid because of the stories?

*la la la la skipping over all mention of ickies*

Majorly happy news: my fiance FINALLY has a full-time job! After months of freelance (he's a Drupal developer) and barely scraping by (our car was repossessed right before Christmas, we were thisclose to eviction, we had to postpone our wedding...), his hard work has paid off. I'm looking forward to a good summer and to finally start planning my wedding!

How wonderful!! Hugs.

#104 MerryMary: I vote for the former - a healthy chunk of most cultures' stories were created to explain the things they experienced in the world around them. Hence, "Hm, I have this for-no-good-reason fear of that snake over there...it must be because snakes are evil..." and so a story is created to explain that. Okay, that's a huge over-simplification, but there you have it.

We have those cricket spiders too and they are also in our basement. Unfortunately, that is where the laundry room is and there is many a night when the whole family rushes down the stairs thinking someone is murdering me because I have seen one! I hate those things especially the fact that when you try to shoo it away from you, it thinks you are only kidding and hops right at you. Yecchh!

We also have hummingbirds, many other birds, some deer, gophers and even some fox in the neighborhood. I find the amount of wildlife in our neighborhood extremely interesting considering we are in no way considered a rural area and are about 1 mile from a major roadway and have every imaginable store, fast food place, etc. mere minutes away. Our street is quiet though so I think they are hiding here - I know I am!

Unhappy: the engine (or something) broke so our flight to Thailand is delayed by almost 8 hours. *sigh*
Seems everything I touch breaks down :(

> 105 What is a Drupal developer? Some kind of computer programming language?

> 104 I say they are mutually reinforcing, but probably originating in very real experiences of poisionous snakes, spiders, etc. (If you don't know which ones are dangerous from a distance, and it's too risky to get up close for identification, more rational to just be afraid of them all.)

Got my tomatoes in the ground yesterday and they looked so much happier there! Today there's a light but fairly cold rain coming down and I hope they're okay. Looks like I won't get my seeds planted for a few days, either, with the ground so wet.

I don't want to know if a Drupal developer is something prosaic. It sounds mystical.

We had a flying squirrel in our house a few years ago. It was so cute and bold we thought someone's pet had taken shelter with us. He was so elusive we called him Osama. I had to call the city's Animal Control officer to get the name of a firm that could trap it. No one knew what I was talking about.

I am an unwilling transplant to Utah where we have many species of poisonous spiders - Black Widows, Brown Recluse and one, whose name escapes me, indigenous only to this area. My first summer here, when I opened the pool, I found a nest of Black Widows, though luckily for me, the pool guy took it completely in stride and dealt handily with the nest - but still, I check carefully every time I am in the garage or the pool house.

And we also apparantly are prone to something called a blow snake, but I have yet to see one and hope I never do. I try not to think about Western Rattlers and warn my son about being careful when he hikes of snakes, bears and mountain lions. I just keep trying to remind myself that nature includes the things that kill us and by killing them we are ultimately killing ourselves as well.

Happy - I made blueberry pie and strawberry rhubarb pie using my home grown rhubarb. My son got our new organic garden planted and after a month of less than stellar health, I am feeling better and am planning on getting a lot of organizing done around the house today. Sounds boring I know, but when you don't feel well enough to do it, days when you can feel like a real blessing. And once the house is in order, I hope to set up an actual writing schedule and stick to it. Wahoo.

A more abstract unhappy - I am really, really worried about the state of the world on many, many fronts. I just have an impending feeling of doom (meaning not armageddon, but the next historical cataclysm) and I am not certain what to do or how to prepare. I speak to many, many other people who feel the same sense of impending disaster and feel just as helpless. From my reading, I know that people felt this way all through the thirties during the run up to WWII. And this time I think it is going to be multi-factorial: economic difficulties, resource depletion adding to both economic disaster and war, environmental degradation, war and I feel that religious differences and fanatacism is going to contribute along with fighting over resources to the next big war.

I won't even think about people using nuclear weapons, but feel that it is at some point almost inevitable. Worse, I feel that some of this needs to be addressed from a top-down paradigm rather than bottom up; we need leadership and we just don't seem to have it and haven't for years. Of course the leaders respond to polls and polling says that people are most worried about the economy with environmental and resource concerns at the bottom of the list (usually 50% v. 5%) - not seeming to realize that a healthy economy depends upon a healthy earth and proper use of resources. Is it just me? have I slipped over into paranoia land? It just seems that I haven't when even the girl who sold my son and I our garden plants remarked, with no conversational prompt from us, that we had all better learn to grow our own food if we wanted to continue eating. Sigh.

Unhappy: I'm a Cubs fan.

Happy: I'm not a White Sox fan.

Unhappy: Really Big Headache. And Charlie seems to be teething again, in addition to testing lots of boundaries today.

Happy: Anniversary is next Friday; we've decided to take our first family trip to the zoo to celebrate (hopefully it won't still be raining then!).

> 112 I cannot say if you have (in your words) "slipped over into paranoia land," but I can affirm that there's a lot of doomsday-feeling going around.

Happy: Got my tomato plants in the ground yesterday (sorry if I'm repeating myself, but it's really cool) and today got some tomatoe cages. Also, talked to a local hardware store person about getting a garden tiller. Yes, that's how excited I am about gardening again. But I'm waiting to see if the enthusiasm passes, before I spend what amounts to a vacation in funds.

Unhappy: It's raining again so I can't plant the rest of my garden.

Also unhappy: I've been accidentally biting my lip in the same place several times over the last few days. Ouch!

115> I hear you on the lip biting thing - sooo irritating. I was doing it a couple of weeks ago. Hurts like heck.

I'm another one with plants and seeds that still need to go into the ground because it won't bloody stop raining. It has been YEARS since I planted this late. Frustrated.

Work is still making me crazy/angry/sad but I saw my doctor for my annual physical and we're taking some steps to help me get over it. I'm taking some other steps on my own, too, but don't want to tempt fate by mentioning them yet.

#112 and 115: I, too, have been feeling sad and unhappy about so much of the news we hear. Occasionally, I resort to the "turn off the news, go get a book" tactic. Works well, usually.

#110, #111

Drupal is open source PHP content management framework. Yes, I had my fiance quote that for me since I barely know what he does, hehe. It runs http://whitehouse.gov If you're interested: http://drupal.com

happy: Earlier today I misplaced the cable that connects my iPod to my laptop, and found it again not 5 minutes later, right where I left it and should have looked to begin with. Gotta love it when the little things make you happy.

happy: I've worn geek shirts to work two days in a row (Star Wars and John Lennon) and got comments on them both.

Happy! My dream vacation is nearly here, and I think I've got everything--just need to pack it.

Unhappy! I've got to organize it, pack it, and get the house in some semblance of order for the house sitter. Also, I'm locked in a love/hate relationship with my AutoPAP machine. I literally cannot sleep without it now, but I'm having nightmares, higher anger/anxiety levels, weight gain, and hot flashes. Really, hot flashes?? Hot flashes??? I see the doc on Friday-hopefully there's a fix for this.

#114 Poor you - I remember it far too well... Plus the boundary testing thing is getting worse now she's over 2. Sigh.

Unhappy and v sad. I realised on the way to work today that I've lost one of the stones out of my engagement ring. I know it's not expensive (we were really broke when we got engaged) but I love it. It's two blue stone on either side of a diamond in white gold. It's now battered and needs a good polish, but my husband always said that it just felt like 'me' to him. And now it's broken and I'm sad.

Unhappy: An unfit 40-something does not enjoy walking up the stairs to the 22nd floor. Both lifts broken down in the building I live in. Not nice after a 12-hour night-shift.

Happy: At least I should sleep well today.

Unhappy: Stupid busy at work - we're understaffed (I'm the 'staff' ... the snakes in the lab are just indolent loafers ... I guess I can boss myself around but that's not that satifying).

Happy: On holiday a week on Sunday. 3 weeks of no internet. That means work is NMP(*) from next Friday at 4.30.

Ambivalent: 3 weeks of no internet. I think it's great to just switch off once in a while and I've got a pile of books and loads of plans for holiday doings but I don't really like to be that cut off.

(*) Not My Problem

Happy: Birthday party this weekend and it looks like (theoretically) some people might actually be coming. (I've had bad luck with parties and few-to-no people coming.)

On the other hand: Cleaning. Lots and lots of cleaning. And quite a bit of shopping, also. Two things I really do not enjoy doing. Heh.

Picking up on the spider conversation - I live on my farm and there are fields all around. What is not in cultivation, is planted pines. I have spiders and, occasionally, mice. I keep the house clean and it is sprayed once a month, but there is no way to rid the house of spiders. Fortunately, they don't bother me. I leave them alone and, so far, they leave me alone. I have not seen one mouse since a cat moved in and took over my home. :)

Happy - I have another taekwondo class tonight! I also started going to the gym this week. The trainer at the gym went to school with my boys and offered to help me out without charging his usual fee as long as he doesn't have a client scheduled for the time I'm there.

Unhappy - The trainer at the gym believes in torture.

Serious unhappy - My oldest son is heartbroken. He's happy with his job and living on the beach, but he and his girlfriend are in the midst of a breakup. I won't get into the details here. It is so difficult to watch your children hurt and know you can do nothing to help other than be there for them. I want to "fix" everything for him, and I know I can't.

Happy & Excited: I picked up the Toy Story 3 plates, napkins, and cups for my 30th birthday party next Friday (18th). My mom said she will order me a fun Toy Story cake. :) All of the friends that I wanted to come have all RSVPed that they will be there!

Frustrated: The local movie theaters will not post the show times of Toy Story 3 in Imax 3D. I was really wanting to set up the time for my b-day party but it all revolves around movie times. Ugh! I hate not being planned out and putting this off till the last minute.

Content: My "baby girl"...aka our English Bulldog...is asleep next to me snoring. It is so relaxing to hear her snore and see her being so content and peaceful. I think I might just fall asleep myself. :)

A happy. I'm baking again. Except for class I stopped after my diagnosis of diabetes. Just couldn't bring myself to bake, it was depressing.

Happy- Got my invitation to my nephew's 30th bithday. It's a giant Orioles ticket :) Him and his wife are O's fanatics (she's the one that got to throw out the first pitch a few weeks ago) so the party of course is a themed one. Got my jersey ready!

Unhappy:
I am now 1 year unemployed and despite over 300 job applications still not looking at a new job.

Extremely unhappy:
The extremist/racist party PVV has won 24 chairs of 150 in Dutch parliament.
Memories of 1920's Germany start to appear.

Happy:
World Championship Football starts tomorrow.

Hugs for all the unhappies. Mine is sort of minor. I ran out of my blood pressure med and kept forgetting to refill it and now my head is killing me. It's my own fault, but I hate it when I do this.

Hugs for everyone who needs them. It's wonderful to have somewhere to come to and vent or share problems and heartaches.

OldSarge - So glad to hear that you're baking again!

Happy - Another new used bookstore opened up near me - I walked out with 3 bags

Very Happy - My daughter is graduating from HS tomorrow

An unhappy for my whole town, five young people were in a single vehicle rollover yesterday evening. Four out of five not wearing seatbelts. Two girls, 15 and 16 years old are dead, another 16 year old girl is in hospital with serious injuries, the driver is unconscious in hospital. The other boy, who was wearing his seatbelt, has only minor injuries. PLEASE, tell your kids not to EVER get in a vehicle if the driver might be impaired, and ALWAYS wear seatbelts. My friends are the ones who pick up the pieces.

How awful!

NorthernStar - I come from a small community and know how tragedies like that affect the whole town. I lost several friends in accidents just like that. I will be praying for yours, and for the survivors.

I'm off to do my first funeral with the VFW this morning. One of our members passed away this weekend. He served on the battleship USS Pennsylvania from Pearl harbor to the end of WWII.

Happy: One of my friends submitted her thesis for examination today (we don't defend in Australia - it's too difficult to organise). I have inspiration to finish my own.

Unhappy: Another friend found out that her partner and all of his colleagues need to look for (very specialised) work in the near future.

#137 Will: You don't defend?!? Why oh why didn't I know this before I finished my PhD - I totally would've moved!! LOL!

PS: Inspiration to finish your own? Sure. An excellent excuse to party your patootie off? Absolutely! I *loved* the parties we used to have for thesis-submitted friends back in grad school!

Unhappy: Went to doctor. Lost a bunch of weight very slowly over maybe 4 years; have gained about a third of it back quite quickly in the last 8 months or so. And he's telling me that the medication I'm on usually makes people lose weight.

Unhappy: Did not sleep well. Kinda ruins the whole day, as I'm either napping or wishing I could.

Mixed: Tomorrow is the street-wide yard sale. I should be able to make a few pennies as long as the forecast possible thunderstorms hold off . . .

Er-oops: Sent a batch of happy-holiday postcards off during the week, to various Dragoneers, saying that it was too dry to snow in the 'Berg. Cold front passed through on Wednesday night; it rained at the timeshare resort all day yesterday. And this morning we left in watery sunshine ... with the mountains dusted with snow! (Which was mostly melted by 11:30 a.m.)

So happy that we had a week in the fresh air and mountains, visiting with friends, chilling out and strolling around looking at the scenery. Unhappy: a 4 km walk showed just how unfit Better Half and I are.

Congrats to goddessdaughter! We got to celebrate the same thing this year!

And big hugs for NorthernStar. What a tragedy.

Sympathy to NorthernStar. Sadly, that kind of accident is all too common around here. Co-incidentally, the small town nearest where we were this past week was reeling on Monday when a security guard (local lad) was shot but not killed in the first-ever robbery of the one and only bank. We emerged from the mountains all innocent, went to the ATM and parked next to -- the security van that had been damaged in the robbery.

Nice to see you back hfglen!

Thanks for all the good wishes. I didn't know the two who died personally, but now will never get a chance to. My friends in Fire/Rescue were on site, and I know how hard it is on them, especially when kids are involved. (One reason I have never joined the Rescue crew). Right around the end of the school year always seems to bring out a lot of reckless behavior. I understand the girl in the hospital is doing well and expected to make a full recovery, thank goodness.

Happy: work is going well, for once.

Unhappy: old boyfriend showed up last weekend and the "only" place he could find to stay was 30 seconds away. *rolls eyes*

Happy: had boyfriend over the other night; we're all good and back to being friends. :)

Major Happy: Found a cute customer at work who comes in mostly to hang out with me. He's a little too old for me, but he'll do for a summer guy. ;) Besides, we have a ton in common so we'll never run out of things about which to talk.

Happy: enjoying the vicarious excitement from the U.S.of A. vs England soccer today as Seattle has become a city of major soccer enthusiasm.

MissWoodhouse, they're never too old! But Yay for you! Everyone needs a cute summer guy ;-)

Then where was mine this summer, hunh? :P

I have a big happy! Some of my photos are being used on this birding website! The webmaster asked my permisson and provided a link back to my Flickr site.

good for you, GD!

Yay GD!

Recognition! Congrats, Georgia!

Sorry to bring it down, but I had another long night with one of my daughters. I think I have logged enough practical hours to have earned a psych degree - a master's, at least, and I'm working towards a doctorate. I was having a very rough night myself, but being a mom, I had to shelve my own pain and take care of her. Again. I didn't get any peace until I'd gotten her safely to sleep and went to cry in the shower. I really don't know how long I can keep this up. And I'm up early this morning, earlier than I'd like to be, given how late I finally got to sleep, so I can go to church with my other daughter.

Yay GD! You and your pics deserve recognition. :)

cmbohn- *hugs* you are being an amazing mum; I'll keep you in my thoughts and hope that things start looking up for you and your daughter soon.

Thanks, MissWoodhouse, that means a lot. As I told her, things did in fact look better in the morning.

Hugs and prayers NorthernStar. That happened every year when I was in school--right around graduation time. What a waste.

Way to go GD!

Hugs cmbohn.

Sigh--I have a basically good kid. So why do I want to sell him some days? Argh--14 is wearing me out.

Other than that--pretty good day/week. A good friend was ordained this past week, so that was fantastic. Kid's grades came in the mail--really good. I just wish it would cool off--90F is waaay too hot for June.

When are you leaving, Rita?

Fustrations beyond Fustration!

First I wake up to find Vincent has taken his nappy off and covered himself in poo. Not something i want to deal with after just waking up. Get him cleaned up and give him a bath. Checked the cot, cot is fine. Put Vincent back in Cot, as I go to put him back in the cot he gets sick all over himself and me.

back to the bath. Once again after cleaning him up and changing him, i put him back in his cot, and he is sick again but this time he missed himself, missed me and got the cot. So have to take him out, pull the cot apart and get that changed and then put him back in.

After this Katie reminds me that she needs breakfast, and demands a drink. I get her a drink and breakfast. Then decide that i should sort the cat box out.

After that I go to open the back door to take out the bag of cat stuff and the rubbish to find that it won't open.

So now I'm stuck in my house. My daughter can't go to nursery and my son is fussy and being sick. And my partner is working out of town and can't come home to give me his keys.

Oh and to top things off the Council isn't going to be sorting out my backdoor problem until Thursday! Unless of course I wanna pay to have it done as an emergency. But I don't have the cash.

what a great day! NOT

Happy: Still alive. To make it short, I was a bit unlucky with the local health system. 3 weeks ago I got a pretty high fever (around 40 Celsius). We went to the local hospital and the gave me medicine against it. It didn't help so we changed to a different, better hospital some time later. They put us through several different departments without being able to find the solution.

After 2 weeks with still fever around 40 we decided to change again and this time we finally got a better doctor. After the first blood test he told us that the medicine the docs gave me before completely nuked out my liver (liver function under 5% left) to the last week I spend in hospital building up the liver again. Luckily my temperature went down at the same time

Unhappy: We still don't know the reason for the fever. It was probably some exotic virus that died off after 2 weeks from itself. (And they tested for EVERYTHING the lab could test for: typhoid, dengue, all 3 malaria, different kind of flu, tuberculosis, etc...)

Unhappy: Huge hospital bill

#159. wow. Well, huge hospital bill not so bad if you're alive to worry about it! Glad to know whatever it was is now history.

#159 Yeah, wow. Glad you are feeling better and sympathize with the huge hospital bill.

Yikes. Weird infections of unknown origin from exotic places. Been there, done that.

Daughter is miraculously fine after a head on collision. Bumps and bruises and sore, but alive.
Guy was texting on his cell phone and came in to her lane.
I have never wanted to physically hurt anyone other than the usual scrapping when I was a teen, but God help me If I was there I would have killed him myself.

>163 MDLady: Thank goodness your daughter is okay. I completely understand your feeling--I don't mind people being stupid on their own time, but draw the line when their stupidity endangers other people. It's not as though people don't know this is dangerous to do.

J_ipsen, I am so glad you are on the way to recovery! Was it permanent liver damage, or will you recover fully? That is so frightening!

MDLady - I know exactly what you mean, and I'm very glad your daughter came out of that no worse.

#159-Glad you're better. Yikes, what a scare.

#163-Glad you're daughter is fine. Yes, I would have gone after him too.

I'll be glad when this office move is over. Another month's worth of upheaval.

Sorry to hear about that Northernstar, but glad that other people have come through scrapes OK!

Me, I'm frustrated & nervous, nervous, nervous. We're upgradig our billing system at work, this has been going on for about 3 years but the go live date is less than a months away & everything is hitting the fan now! Things havent been thought through properly at all, I'm worried we're going to lose a heap of info when we transfer & even if we dont lose stuff things are going to be chaos here for at least the next 6 months. I'm trying to convince myself to just do what I can do & not get caught up in how stupidly this has all been done...

Twitter is down. *whimpers* *curls into a ball* *sucks thumb*

Anyhoo....

#147-148 Ha! How did I miss those earlier. :D

J-ipsen- Sorry to hear about your illness, but so glad you are better now!

MDLady- The UK has an amazingly powerful PSA up on youtube about the danger of texting and driving. How some people can be so thoughtless is beyond me. However, I'm so very glad that your daughter is okay.

Seanie, work can be so frustrating, can it not? If it helps any, my manager always tells us "it is what it is, so move on." I hate hearing that, but she's usually right. Buckle down and hang in there! You can do it!

Unhappy: Still up and I get up in about five hours. I need to set my computer to turn off at 10 or something. Wouldn't be quite as bugged about the whole thing if I'd been up reading this whole time, except I've got work tomorrow (yay!/sarcasm).

Happy: A friend who works at the campus library borrowed the first two books of the Spiderwick Chronicles and I blew through them both in an hour each yesterday afternoon. Great little reads, especially nice to read something like that as a break from more mature books (not to mention the fact that it boosts my books read count for the 50 books challenge). Three more and a field guide to go for the series, probably finish by Wednesday or Thursday.

Anyway, I'm off to hit the sack, see you lovely people tomorrow!

Unhappy. We're putting the house on the market. With the real estate market the way it is, we are way underwater. It will be a short sale, which means it's the bank's problem, not ours. But I'm sad to leave our cute little house and my garden. Most of my books are in storage; I kept out the TBRs and my favorite comfort reads. I think I'm going to need them in the next few months. KB is sad and sorry, feeling it's his fault, which it is not. So I'm trying not to be sad and droopy at home. But it catches up with me sometimes.

>170 jennieg: I'm so sorry--my house is for sale also, and I haven't gotten even a scintilla of interest. I live in a small town where the population is decreasing, there are a ton of houses on the market, and--well, the good news for me is that I'm not desperate to sell, other than that I'd love to be out of here before winter shows up again for its usual seven- or eight-month stay.

Good luck and I hope you find another home that makes you happy--and that it has a lot of room for books.

jennieg - Hang in there!! It's nobody's fault.

Unfortunately I know too many people who are in the same situation. It is such a tough time right now. My husband and I have both been looking for better jobs or even second jobs but the market is TOUGH in our area. I am actually going to pay my stepkids to babysit my daughter this summer because we can't afford to keep paying for her school. (which actually costs more than my mortgage!) We're stuck in a tiny 2 bedroom condo because we can still afford our mortgage but that's about all. We have cut everything non-essential from our budget, including more children.
*BIG SIGH* Sorry for the rant. I got to thinking about money and off I went! If only I could find a money fairy. :P

Somehow we keep stumbling across the book fairy instead. ;)

Happy: Down 4 pounds this week which brings me to 10% of my body weight lost. Yeah, it took me two years, but I did it!

Unhappy: Numbness, tingling, intermittent sharp pains in my right foot and ankle for the last two weeks. I think it's sciatica. I have a call into my doctor but I'm really hoping to avoid a visit.

Well done Morphy! It's not the length of time it took, but the end result that counts. Pat yourself on the back or go 'Whoop!', whichever you prefer ;-)

Happy! On holiday from Friday. Flying to Poland for 3 weeks on Sunday morning to catch up with old friends, drink good beer & rake round my old haunts & show them to junior-me for the first time. Can. Not. Wait.

Good for you Morph.

jennieg I know what it's like. Had to sell my family's home at a severe loss. It was the one I grew up in and always went back to.

Aaargh! They are trying to drive me over the edge at work. Waiting until the last minute to give me "minor corrections" which take FIVE HOURS does not improve my attitude. THESE ARE NOT MINOR CORRECTIONS--It was a complete rewrite!!!!

Amused... I was looking at a map of the NY region, and I only just realised what people meant by saying they're going to the Hamptons. The top of Long Island. I can see why it's such a hot destination.

Hugs for those who need them and high fives to those with happies!

Unhappies: We are still struggling with issues with our oldest. I think that summer is going to be difficult. He is looking for a job (well, two jobs actually) and we are hoping that he gets at least one so it will help keep him busy. It is amazing to us that he has gotten himself into this situation and seems powerless to remove himself from it.

Like many others, we are having money issues as well. We sat down the other day and went over all of the numbers and set up a budget. DH finally realized how tight things have become and why I have been such a raving lunatic for most of the year. We do have a plan in place but there is absolutely no budge in our budget as the saying goes. Having a plan does make us both feel better and DH has committed to helping me keep track of the incoming and outgoing money which will definitely help me relax about the issue a bit. I also have a feeler out for a part-time babysitting job during the upcoming school year. Hopefully, that will pan out for me.

The Hamptons? Meh...down the shore where I live is the best.

Happy: Leaving for Door County in 8 days!! The countdown begins. My grandparents have a house there that they live in for 5 months or so during the summer and in the 20 years they've had it I have never been. I'm going with both my sisters and my 5 year old daughter. I can't wait! I'm already packing. lol

Minor unhappy. Have to screen all comments on my blog now, some skell spammed it.

Another minor unhappy: one of the game groups I just started going to (not the weekly Monday group, but a twice-monthly Friday group) may disband. We're trying to find another place to meet, but who knows what's going to happen.

Minor (random) happy: On Monday, I was complimented on my shoes, of all things. I can't even articulate how utterly random that was, but it was fun.

#181 Have a blast, Raychild! It sometimes feels like the entire north shore (of Chicago) adjourns to Door County for much of the summer.

I've been invited to join friends for dinner tomorrow at Charlie Trotter's, one of the fanciest restaurants in the city. I'm taking the day off to play with them downtown, taking my party clothes with me. Should be a hoot.

Unhappy, we are going to get more oil spill on our beaches.

Happy the local county authorities are defying the Coast Guard and going around red tape to do everything they can to keep oil out of our bay.

Coast Guard ordered Mobile to keep its pass open and now they have oil, and bad oil, inside their wetlands. Our county is hoping to do better. But if a hurricane comes through, all bets are off.

When the hell will they stop the leak!!!!!

Sigh...two NJ State Troopers killed this month. The first a tragic accident, the second by his own hand. Glad it was no one I knew, but still sad to see it and know full well how it hurts all affected.

http://www.nj1015.com/Trooper-Death-Comes-Right-on-the-Heels-of-Another-/7488673

Tough to see anyone who puts their ass on the line join the ranks of the fallen. Military, fire-firefighter, law enforcement, and emergency medical. We're all out there every day and for some it just gets overwhelming.

I know, I've stood on the edge of that abyss myself twice. Not 100% sure how I managed to step back from it. To see another take that final step, tough because I known their pain all too well. The military is considering the amount of suicides in its ranks an epidemic at this point.

Prayers to Trooper Scott Graham's family, friends, and brother officers. Many of them will blame themselves and never understand why this happened.

My heart goes out to them all.

#184 Thanks jennieg!! Have fun at Charlie Trotter's. I've never been but I've heard it great.

#185 I've really been having a hard time watching the news about the oil spill. It's so devastating, not only to the humans and the wildlife in that region, but I can't help but think about the ecological and economic impact this will have on our world. It's truly scary. It makes me wish there was more I could do.

Hugs and prayers are going out to all who are in need of them!!

I don't need a new rooooooof! So happy!

Minor unhappy given the above, my daughter just really really bit me and had a massive tantrum in the library. Mortifying.

Raychild - I am feeling much the same and despair of the world we are passing on to our children. The only actions I can take today which makes me feel as if I am responding in a responsible way is to avoid unnecessary driving and avoid unnecessary buying of plastic stuff, bags, etc. Every time I see a plastic bag I think of the sheen of oil on the waters.

This is what happens when you deregulate a company, an entity DESIGNED TO MAKE MONEY and expect them to monitor themselves, even if doing it properly means less profits, which is against their interest. Because we weren't williing to do the right thing, BP has permanently damaged/destroyed one of, if not the single most major ecosystem in the entire world. From what I've heard, the dispersants they used will not only do nothing but spread oil into a greater area, but the dispersants themselves are poisonous. I don't know about you all, but I don't plan to eat seafood for a LONG time.

I love blowing the bell curve. Bwhahaha.

The last test the average class score was 78%, I got 98%.

I just did 100% on my second test.

Nyah nyah.

:)

likes post #192

Congrats Morphidae!!

Not so happy yet not entirely unhappy: I'm stuck at work but I'm SO not in work-mode.

So happy: My wonderful, amazing stepchildren will be switching off weeks babysitting my daughter so I can take her out of her ridiculouly expensive school for the summer. Yeah for more $$ in my checkbook!!

*hugs* to those struggling with challenges -

ikk on the oil front :(

WOOOHOOO Morph - you go and stretch those brain cells :) congrats!

I am so very sick and tired of packing and trying to get house ready for sale and trying to deal with long distance relocation bs. *BLAH*

ugh

Absolutely depressing.

ugh is right fleela :(

It reminds me of art glass. It would be quite striking if it were a sculpture. As a wave, it's awful.

Horrible. Did anyone see the Daily Show last night? Jon Stewart did a retrospective of the last eight US presidents talking about how we had to stop being dependent on foreign oil/oil in general, how we had to develop alternative energy sources, etc. That's pretty depressing, too.

And he pointed out that, ironically, the president who did the most for the environment was . . . Richard M. Nixon.

Little bit of happy news. I sent my husband that picture, and he just replied that he's in the lab working on a project to help try to clean up that mess. He works in plastics and is making part of some kind of vacuum that will be deployed in the Gulf at some point.

@ejj1955, I heart Jon Stewart. We won't give up oil until every drop has been drained out of the Earth :( Who would have thunk after going through the oil crises in the 70s, we would still be so dependent on oil.

the picture of the oil wave was taken some 50 miles west of us. and the oil has now reached us. Our waters are closed to swimming, fishing is closed, and now they've closed Destin Pass, which is the entrance to a large saltwater bay, Choctawhatchee Bay, on which I live. By closing the pass they are going to try to keep the oil out of the bay (which has wonderful shrimping and oystering, and fishing- now).

I'm not sure they can succeed in keeping the oil out, especially if we get a hurricane, but I appreciate the efforts.

My DH volunteers with the local turtle patrol. He's now been asked to volunteer his nights, so someone can be on the beach watching for turtles and nests when the clean up crews are on the beaches trying to remove the oil.

We are now getting hundreds of tarballs (one weighed over a ton) and the area near the beach has a strong odor from the oil. Not sure how my asthma will do if that stuff gets into the bay. I may have to leave if it gets really bad back here in the bayou. Sigh.

My heart just aches for you and yours, majkia, and for all of us really. My part of the US of A is also on the water (northwest Washington State) and there are many here who are working to find a solution to the devastation this is causing; and, all the other insults to our planet that we've created.

I love Jon Stewart!!

#201 fleela - I saw a clip on the news that showed a vacuum skimming the top of the water and sucking up a ton of sludge. I hope that works. All I can say is thank goodness oil floats otherwise this would be a much different situation. I guess that would be the only bright side to this.

#205 alas, all oil does not float, particularly since they are using chemical dispersant. There are huge plumes of oil lurking underwater, and much of it will settle to the sea floor.

Well that just sucks. There go my happy thoughts. What a horrible mess.

Unless I've missed them, where are the satellite pictures of the Gulf? I did see a picture of one of those 1 ton tar balls.

>208 dsstukes:
http://mashable.com/2010/04/30/gulf-of-mexico-oil-spill/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/digitalglobe-imagery/4710030160/

Did you try Google images? You can probably get some satellite images on there.

Thanks fleela

I refuse to despair, because I believe that intelligent and ingenious people, like fleela's husband, will work on this nasty thing and conquer it. We can put men on the moon, and so many other marvelous things, I just know we can fix this if those who have the talent and intellect are allowed to do their thing.

#199 I though amber. Sadly, that's the wrong substance for the ocean. Like MrsLee, I believe we will fix this, with the help of the amazing Earth that we've been given. It continues to adapt to what we dish out. Unfortunately, we keep doing stupid and/or greedy stuff. My heart and prayers are with the families/towns affected and the wildlife.

6 months of planning vacation and now my son doesn't want to go. Aarrgh! He will be going, but now it's going to be unpleasant teen boy testosterone sulking next to me.

And I suffered a titration test to hopefully reset my pressure settings on my AutoPAP. It was a long, miserable, painful night, so something good better come of it. I'll know tomorrow--but I'm slightly nervous because a friend had his standard titration done last week, got a phone call and short story is he had a heart cath done yesterday. I'm scared they will find something wrong in my heart or lungs.

I am holding my thumbs and crossing fingers for you RitaFaye. I will assume the teenager boy will get over his silliness and will have the time of his life. And I will assume your test will fix your machine to perfection. Hang in there, RF, and get ready to enjoy your trip.

GRRRR!! Very unhappy! Just got home, missed my stepson's baseball game all because some lady realized she was about to miss her exit off the highway and slammed on her brakes right in the middle of the highway and caused a three car accident for which I was in the middle. The guy behind her was able to brake and not hit her, we were behind him and we were able to stop too but the guy behind us was driving a HUGE van filled with people and he rammed into us which then caused us to hit the poor guy in front of us. And guess what? She drove away. I don't even know if she realized she caused an accident. Of course nobody got a plate number. I'm just glad we're all ok. My poor daughter was shaken up but not hurt. I just wish people would think more clearly when they drive. She was probably on the phone!! And I was mad that it was a woman. Our reputation behind the wheel is already tarnished. lol

I'm just in a good, relaxed mood and going with it. The smell of cooling loaves of strawberry bread fills the kitchen and Germanicus the cat is letting me know it's time to go to bed, instead of trying to stay up to bake more. I'm taking his advice, hoping I'll sleep straight through til morning, a rarity.

It's a beautiful cool night outside. The wind is up just enough to rustle the trees, some scattered clouds across the night sky and the stars are bright. I'm going back outside to just be one with it for a few more minutes.

I don't get enough moments like this and I'm thankful for it because I had a really crappy morning. I'll blather about it tomorrow, not going to ruin this mood.

Night all.

Strawberry bread! WANT!

#215 Raychild, now that a little time has past. Be happy. You and yours are okay.

I am pretty good, just having trouble sleeping.
'Will fix two leaky tires tomorrow (one on the spare tire rack from a flat last month & now another tire has a leak) but that is trivial in comparison to an accident. A Good Samaritan woman let me know about the leaky one on the way home from work. That is twice now that a fellow woman driver has honked at me and let me know about tire problems.

Re #216 Germanicus is a wonderful name for a cat!

Enjoy the moments OldSarge, they are rare and precious. As is good strawberry bread. Have any leftovers?

Went to the storage unit yesterday where the ex dumped my stuff and gave it a thorough inventory. She kept all my cookware and kitchen tools...I hope she gets food poisoning.

Thankfully I still had some at this house.

Raychild - glad you are ok. It sounds really scary. My 15 year old is taking driver's ed and she has to watch all these movies and read about accidents. If people would just pay attention, so many accidents would be avoided.

Not really happy or unhappy right now.

Neither happy nor unhappy, more like schadenfreude:

I just mowed my lawn and now the neighbor's yard looks like a jungle.

Hee, hee, hee.

Sigh. Just had to tell 2 of my staff that they'll be transferred to another site when the merger happens in the fall, rather than staying with the rest of us. One is ok with it, but the other is really upset. Then had to tell the other staff as well. I really, really hate this whole stupid situation. I work for idiots. On the plus side, the antidepressants seem to be working, because I'm not spending half my time weeping about it anymore.

On the plus side, it's Friday and I expect to spend most of the weekend gardening, which always makes me feel better.

#43 theexiledlibrarian
That sounds so charming! Sorry, I know you were venting frustration, but it just sounded so beautiful to me, the fact that you'd do that for your daughter. :) It's something to cherish and treasure forever, that's for sure!
My mom can't sew to save her life, in fact, hates it. She's taken up cross-stitching now in her sixties, and she always smiles and says "if my mother could see me now..." Apparently, grandma always chided her to learn to sew and mom would say "never in a million years!" But still, quilting? Nothing she'd ever do. I'm the same, all thumbs when it comes to taking up anything to do with my hands, except for cooking and baking a little. :) But I'd really, really, really like to learn to knit or to do something like that some day.

#51 damejennylynn
Imagining you doing cartwheels just brought a huge smile to my face! :)

#181 Raychild
Wow, there's actually a place called DOOR County!?! Ohh I *have* to visit it some day! I've always been fascinated with doors, portals, porticos... the phrase "Cellar Door"... the character Door from Neverwhere... it's like it all comes together in my mind. :)

------

Aaaaackkkk!!! That oily wave! :( Major unhappy! We're all in mourning here in my country because the government recently passed a law, supposedly on commercial aviation, that subreptitiously introduced amendments to several other country codes and laws not even remotely related to aviation. And one of those was the environmental code, specifically the part that relates to the obligatory nature of conducting environmental impact studies for all commercial ventures. According to the new law, now whenever a new project is deemed to have "social interest" (whatever the hell that means, according to the bill's interpretation), the company that proposed it won't be required to conduct an environmental impact study. ARGH!!! And the president's justification for this? Ohh it's for progress, you know, economic growth and blah blah blah ARGHGHGHGHGHG!!! It makes me mad! Many of the region's countries are moving away from mining projects... while the country where I (unfortunately) was born and live in thinks it's a good idea to start investing in the mining industry and drilling for oil. ARGH!

*sigh* Sorry, I had to vent.

A less major unhappy: the puppy that we were supposedly getting as a gift... we're no longer getting. My sister's neighbor, the guy who was going to give it to us because he felt sorry for our Max's passing, well, he has apparently backed off. Don't know what happened. :( We're looking into adopting a shelter puppy.

Bit happy: it's been raining for the better part of three days. I know, many people complain of rainy weather, but I love it. So it's cold and humid right now. Perfect weather for lounging about in my long-sleeved, long-pants PJs, with a mug of hot tea, and some DVDs. I still have some Doctor Who & Torchwood to watch. :D

Another happy: I seem to have gotten myself a BlackBerry phone! :-O!!! Me, the one who always said didn't need one. Still, it was for free. ;) I've been a customer for ten years, on a contract, instead of pre-paid, so I get to change my phone once every 18 months.

Wow, this post is really long. I apologize for the long-windedness.

ARGGGHGGH!

I'm having an allergic reaction to my dog's allergy shampoo!

*scratch scratch scratch*

I've taken some Benadryl. Meanwhile I get to wait (and scratch.)

Well, my weed-whacker still is not working right after waiting 2 weeks for a replacement part. While that means my backyard is still a problem area, my sinuses are very relieved that they will not be assaulted again today.

In light of RioLindaAnnie's post, I should say that one of my happies is that my neighbor pays her lawn guy to do my lawn, too, in return for my not minding that her dogs use my lawn as their bathroom. Seems a fair trade to me--I don't spend a lot of time outdoors.

227 - Ouch. That's horrible irony.

I'm unhappy that the bus ticket price is going up next month. An extra $15 a month isn't much to most, but when your income is approximately $0, it makes a big difference. There's also likely a bus strike on friday, which will make it impossible to get to work (well, I could walk for an hour and a half to get there, but it's no fun).

I think we might be moving house. I'm not sure if I am happy about this or not. We are in the (for me) scary and stressful stages of examining our finances to see if it is possible and talking to our mortgage provider tomorrow to see what we need to do with our existing mortgage, if we can port it or if we have to end it and take out a new one.

I don't know if this will come to anything or not and this is one of those times I wish I had a cyrstal ball and some idea how to work it.

Good luck, Jody.

Unhappy - just found out some rumors about my daughter are going around the neighborhood. She's upset. I'm hoping we can put a stop to it. If not, we are going to be moving as well.

I'm so sorry, cmbohn. You've already weathered so much.

My unhappy is mostly just being a worrywart. I had a stress test today. Lee had one years ago, and ended up having a quadruple bypass! So I'm nervous. I think it went ok for the most part - I wasn't on the treadmill very long before I was puffing. But no one mentioned any problems or emergencies.

The worst of it is I have to wait for results until tomorrow. ARGH!

extremely happy: Got a phone call from my friend that works at the campus library today. "I've got a bibliophile question for you: Does the Folio Society mean anything to you?" My response? "Hell fuckin' yes!" Got to the library after work to find a book cart full of books, with two FS sets and a single FS volume set aside, all like new, except for some extremely minor wear to the slipcases. I grabbed the Birth of the Middle Ages and Empires of the Ancient Near East set, and let him have the Greek Myths as, well, call it a finder's fee, plus he'd mentioned that he wanted it, and I wasn't about to be greedy getting those two for a total of $10. Got a couple other books too, which I'll post when he returns them to me (walking home with two big heavy FS sets plus books bought for school, plus even more books does not make for an easy trip.) Am I happy right now? Hells yes!

These are the sort of books I've lusted after since i started seriously considering myself a collector a couple years ago, and to actually get my hands on some for this cheap is amazing.

#226 Lol! Yes there is a place called Door County. It's in Wisconsin right off Green Bay.

My happy: One more day of work and then I'm off until next Tuesday!!!!!

cmbohn, so sorry to hear about that. Rumors can be very hurtful.

#234 Wow that sounds like quite a deal! Amazing coincidence that you got them.

Unhappy: I work at an ice cream store and was shortchanged by a customer that took items out of the display cases in the store and asked for a refund for all the items. It sounded official. She said she'd talked to the manager already, named a business she owned down the street. She was holding a party for her daughter. I was ripped off $131 when she left and we figured out what she'd done. I should have realized it was wrong, but she played on my trusting nature. There were only two of us running the store and my coworker was dealing with some people that dumped their shake on the floor because it was too watery. I had to pay back the money and they didn't even give me a week to get things settled.

If I didn't need the money I would be quitting :( Very unhappy with how I was treated.

#234 I'm very happy about your happy, DeusExLibrus!

In particular about one of the books in the 'Ancient Near East' set - The Babylonians by H. W. F. Saggs as he was my father (died 5 years ago), and the writing of that book, originally published as The Greatness that was Babylon was the background to much of my childhood.

It's nice to think of someone reading one of his books.

I'm certainly looking forward to it. History has been of interest to me almost since I could read.

236 - That really irritates me. People used to do that a lot at the store I worked in at the end of high school. Luckily I didn't have to deal with it myself. I know what you mean about the trusting nature. I don't like that I have to be suspicious of students who come with excuses about lateness or requests for extensions, but so many of them try stuff on that you almost turn away the real deal. And dumping stuff on the floor because it's not right is *not* right. It's more like "I'm a 3-year-old having a tantrum".

>236 Darragh: Yes, I'm having a bit of trouble with the concept that someone committed a crime and you have to pay for it because you were there when they did it. Does not seem right at all.

I have to agree. That's a bogus move. I used to work at a gas station in high school and there was some theft and what not but the employees were never responsible.

Thanks for your nice comments. I know that I was gullible in believing her story and the crime could have been prevented. But I'd never dealt with anything like that before and had no preparation. It seems like the higher-ups are treating me as the criminal instead of the woman.

In customer service you definitely see the worst in people and I'm really sad that I have to lose my faith in them.

Darragh - I'm so sorry. Working at the hotel, I've learned a lot more than I wanted to know about scammers. They are very good at what they do, waiting until you are distracted, hurried or upset before they pull their tricks.

Happily, our management so far seems to take the incidents as training experiences and hasn't punished the staff for their mistakes. In our policy, it says we can be fired if there is a variance of $20 in the till, but they have chosen leniency instead. Most of us are new, and very unworldly-wise. My boss said it takes at least two years before you've seen most of the tricks and have a good idea of how to catch/prevent them.

The only advise I can give, is that when someone is pushing you to make a decision over cash and you feel flustered, slow down and be very careful. If your management complains about that, then they are fools.

Not happy. I had a sandwich in a cafe yesterday which I think has given me food poisoning. It was bad yesterday, worse today and I feel terrible now.

And I made the mistake of trying to get Joseph out of the house for a bit as he was getting very grumpy being cooped up, but the weather was too much for me and made me feel worse so we had to turn back, unfortunately meaning we had an unexpected and unpleasant meeting with my in-laws (who are the main reason for my last post and why we are seriously looking into moving house).

When we got back home Joseph decided I made a suitable trampoline. I'm going to bed.

I'm sorry you had a difficult time with the in-laws, Jody-hon. *hugs*

Just found out from my SIL that the damn cancer is back in full rage. It seems determined to take her out. Next step is a bone marrow transplant. The nearest place is hours away and it means her being away from home for 90 days. This is not something easy with 2 young kids (11, 10) and a husband with a high-demand (and thankfully high-paying) job which involves travel. She will need 24 hour care for 60 days after the 30 day hospital visit. The family hasn't figured out how they are going to manage it yet. Probably hire a nanny for the kids for one. It's all around a sucky situation.

You're right, Morphy. It is a sucky situation.

I'll keep your SIL and her family in my prayers.

As will I.

Almost forgot...I do have a happy. Daughter called last night to confirm. The October baby will be a girl!! Hannah, her oldest, will probably feel the pinch of competition for "Queen Bee" status, but she'll also enjoy having another one to boss around and be tattletale for. She does so well on her little brother already.

Me too Morphidae!

I'll take this opportunity to let everyone know they can go to Bethematch.org and get information on how to become a donor. You never know if you'll be able to help someone out.

My sister's girlfriend has lukemia and they held a motorcycle run fundraiser and everyone who was part of the run was tested to become bone marrow donors. It was pretty cool. And easy.

Congrats MerryMary!! I love baby news.

#245 I'm really sorry about the news from your SIL. I hope she finds a donor quickly!

#248 Congratulations on the baby girl! That's really exciting!

There's no point in being the Big Sister if you can't boss people around . . .

Congratulations, MM!

Congrats on the baby girl. I really like (other people's) babies. (Disclaimer: have none of my own to like or dislike.)

Cancer sucks. I hate it. I just don't (slight rant here) think joining a Facebook group saying I hate it is going to have the least effect on it. But after losing four people to it in the last seven years, yes, I hate it.

Hope the marrow transplant happens and she's healthy thereafter. (((Hugs))) for the tough times till then.

236 - my guess is the shake dumpers were friends with the thief.

I am sorry it was such a rough situation.

Cancer is one nasty S.O.B. Colon cancer got both my parents, so I nurture a great hatred for it in all forms.

Congrats on the baby girl. Like ejj1955, I have none of my own, but really like other people's. In fact I was just telling a toddler that I really liked her shirt ("iPood"). Perfect for these iPod times.

My June unhappy/happy are joined together.
Happy: one month ago, a Power That Be sent me a kitten that needed rescuing and that rescued me from a rough weekend.

Unhappy: turns out that the kitten mutual rescue was for more than a weekend. Today I had to take Shiloh (my senior male cat) to the vet and send him on to Mom in the next life. I firmly believe that he is happy and free of pain now, but I am going to sorely miss him. Thankfully, the kitten (Grace) will keep the other cat (Lucy) and me from brooding too much.

My mom is getting a rescue cat in a few days. A black kitty with a white crescent on her neck - named Luna. She is so exited, and I'm so happy for her. She'll move in as soon as she recovers from her spay.

Unhappy: The results from yesterday's stress test is sitting on my doctor's desk - but today is her day off. Have to wait until tomorrow. ARGH!!

>256 MerryMary: They just didn't tell you that the stress test actually lasts for days.

>256 MerryMary: I like the name Luna!

I have yet to take a stress test. I am sure my doctor will recommend one sometime soon. Sigh.

Wear comfortable shoes.

LOL! I always do. Life is too short for uncomfortable shoes.

RioLindaAnnie Life is too short for uncomfortable shoes. Boy are you right. I just saw Letters to Juliette in which the women wore comfortable shoes almost all the time. Wonderful! Why in the world do so many women feel they need to torture themselves with those horrible high heels?

As for the cancer question, My mother died of ovarian cancer 10 years ago, and my brother just died of lung cancer in December. We did nothing for my mother's cancer but supportive care, my brother went through 8 months of hell with all kinds of stupid "holistic" treatments. Holistic in the sense that they wholly financed new cars and boats for his loving care givers. I don't hate cancer. We all have to die of something. But I do hate quack medical care givers or all people who prey on the misfortune of others. Really hate them. I may need to tone that down.

I know we all have to die of something, but I'm hoping for the heart attack or stroke I don't see coming as opposed to the months or years of suffering with cancer--my sister spent the last year of her life paralyzed from the waist down and mostly bedridden and uncomfortable. On the other hand, my mother lived independently until she was 86, had a stroke, never woke up and died ten days later.

*Edited to fix a mistake--I haven't had coffee yet.

Yeah, my SIL has been fighting lymphoma for five years now. She's had four rounds of chemotherapy. We are starting to get scared. It's harder to be hopeful. The cancer is being very stubborn. Bone marrow transplant is a last resort measure to save her life. Even so, there is a 20% chance she won't survive the procedure. So this is very, very serious.

>One of the worst moments in life is when someone you love who has been in remission says "it's back."

Morphy, I'm adding my prayers for your sister in law and your whole family.

Merry--Yay on the new soon-to-be grandaughter.

I'm about six months out from my last cancer treatment......

Rio, sorry about your kitty. I lost a wonderful kitty friend this week, too.

Happy about a new tween age pup from the pound we got about a month ago. Not so happy that on the second day we had him, he tried to dash through my feet at the door and I broke a bone in my foot. It's being slow to heal and the stupid boot cast throws off my stride, my back and my hip. Summer is too short for this!

Just heard from my dr. about my stress test. In her words: "gorgeous." Whew! I'm so relieved - imagining all sorts of dire scenarios. Sometimes I curse my imagination!

And now you can unstress from the stress test. What a relief!

Yup. Nap time!

Good for you, MerryMary! I hate when doctors take tests and then you have to wait for the results. It must be such a burden off your shoulders to have the good news.

((((hugs)))) Morphie, how terrible for your whole family, I hope she finds the strength for this latest fight. I am registered as a bone marrow doner but have never been called to donate yet.

MerryMary - congratulations on the baby girl and the good test results.

I'm on the donor registry too, Morphy. I hope more people will register as time goes on. Your family is in my heart.

Interesting: Our politics just went that way. The Americans have a black president. Our PM just went female.

(We changed PM, not the PM just changed sex, though that *would* be interesting!)

Annoyed: There's a bus strike tomorrow, and I have absolutely no other transport, so I'm relying on the kindness of friends with cars.

Minor unhappy - spent the last half hour in the basement due to another round of thunderstorms and tornado warnings. Don't try to drive down my street, it's blocked by a tree limb at the moment.

Happy - the lights flickered several times and I have to reset all the digital clocks, again, but the power came back on quickly and the wind has died down.

There's a wasp in the house. I'm phobic about bees and wasps. I don't know where it is now so I can kill it. I know where the Epipen is, just in case. Meanwhile, I can't breathe and I'm sick to my stomach and every little thing makes me thing the wasp is on me and sends me into a panic.

*breathes*

Keep breathing, Morphy.

When I get a wasp in the house, it usually heads for a window, which makes it easy to spot. With luck, you can shut it in the room or shut yourself in another one.

Yeah, it headed to the window right behind me. Which is why I thought I could kill it. But when I lifted the blind, mag in hand, it was gone.

Happy: look what arrived from the printers a few days ago!

>277 hfglen:
W0000T!

Congratulations!

The cover art is quite striking.

My happy is that my niece is bringing me her children for the Fourth of July weekend. I am worried about keeping an 11-year-old and an 8-year-old girl entertained, but the drive-in the next town over is having Toy Story 3 and the new Twilight movie as a double feature, and if that doesn't make them happy . . .

I've just started the second book in the Twilight series to prepare for this--I wasn't crazy about the first one, but I'm hoping it improves. The first page does not make me hopeful: " . . . I wasn't running for my life; I was racing to save something infinitely more precious. My own life meant little to me today."

And here I was hoping Bella had grown a spine. Guess not. I kinda hate that the message seems to be, I don't care if the bad boy hurts me, I just love love love him--he's so sparkly and pretty!

Ugh.

So long in posting that I didn't see the exciting book news till after--congratulations. Wonderful to be able to hold it in your hands, isn't it?

>279 jennieg:
It sure is.

hfglen, could we could get a bigger picture? I need to feed my map addiction. And maps as book covers are oh so delectable.

#281 It sure is! Many thanks, ejj and Fleela.

The scan is on Flickr here, I hope.

The cover art is by our in-house layout genius, Elizma Fouché; she derived it from some of the elderly illustrations that grace the introductory essays. I love the chamaeleon walking along the Table Bay coast.

ETA: Yay! the link works!

It's gorgeous!

#277: Oh yay! Congrats!

Yahoo, hfglen, congratulations!

Alas, ejj1955. Bella only gets worse. It's very saddening to me that in the21st century girls are still hanging on to this dangerous notion of romance over all and self sacrifice.

hfglen add my congrats to the list!

At that age, girls are so afraid that no one will ever love them. As a consequence, they hold tight to whatever counterfeit love comes their way - at whatever cost.

Yeah. Voice of experience. (In a minor way, thank God)

#286 and #288 Agree completely which is why I really dislike (okay, despise) the Romance genre in general.

There may be a few decent works in it, but by far the main thrust is that women should sacrifice all and everything will be fine in the end (HEA endings a must).

Reading the word THRUST in the context of the last post made me giggle.

Congrats, hfglen, it's beautiful!

Congratulations hfglen!!! It truly is gorgeous!

A big happy. The farmer's market in my town opened for the season today.

hfglen, that's amazing! Such a great looking book; I bet it's just as awesome inside too. :)

Okay, I just had to come over and share some happy news: as of today, I'm officially a British Literature teacher for a private school! I didn't take the job with the one private school that would have been full time, but my alma-mater offered me this class so how could I say no???? It's only two bells a week, so I won't be too overwhelmed with my senior year class load, but it will be a lot of work.

Forget the extra work: I'm just SO EXCITED!!!!!!!! :D

Ooh! How exciting! I'm just finishing my first real bit of teaching, and I loved it! The marking was terribly frustrating at times, but the teaching part was so much fun.

Hooray! This world needs enthusiastic teachers who love what they do. And we're one short since I retired!!

Happy - I've been looking for a kitten since March, and will have one in a few weeks. A local realtor found a mother cat with 5 kittens abandoned in a house she was showing. I couldn't take them all, and the kittens are too young (2-3 weeks) to leave mom yet, but a friend of mine has them, and today I picked out the one I'll be bringing home.

A female (we're pretty sure), and may be developing some semi-siamese markings.

Edited to say, I hope the picture works now.

Awwww, Northernstar. What a cutie.

MissWoodhouse, yippee. Enjoy you new job.

#293 Enjoy the work!! And, hopefully, the income.

Everybody else since #284 -- many thanks!

#274 - I'm not a fan of wasps either, hope yours is long gone now.

#277 - It's a beautiful looking book, congratulations.

#280 - It doesn't get better. Sorry to break it to you but it just goes downhill all the way. I know, I bought the first three books at once as they were on offer on the internet and the cheapskate in me thought "I paid for them, I'm finishing them" which was a big mistake. I lost money and time.

Yes, wasp gone. I held myself together until MrMorphy got home. He found the wasp, killed it and then comforted me while I broke down into a bundle of nerves. When I'm not caught up in it, I get frustrated with my reaction. It's just a bug. But I guess that's why they call it a phobia, there is no logical reason for it.

Congratulations, MissWoodhouse and Northernstar!

Gah. Am about to throw my toddler out of a window. She's knackered and screamy and I'm at the end of my tether from three hellish weeks, no sleep and a pile of emotional cr*p.

Hubby not helping. Just want to cry/scream/run away.

Thanks guys! I'm still so excited; now to get cracking on paperwork and lesson plans. I also just realised I need a few more "teacher" appropriate pieces in my wardrobe. Oh darn, make me go shopping.... ;)

I hear ya Bekkajo! hangin there

My heart goes out to those who have suffered losses or are going through difficult times, and it rejoices with those who are experiencing life's little victories.

#277
Hugh, that cover is gorgeous! Congrats! I love all things geographical and maps! Some day I will paper a wall with maps... *and* have a terrestrial globe in my library. :D

#293
Yay, congratulations! Have you done the victory dance yet? :D

-----
My happy: weekend's finally here! Well, not really, just yet, I still have work to do. But 1) I'm meeting friends for dinner tonight, for a friend's birthday; 2) one of my sisters had her birthday yesterday, so last night we all had a good time, and I spent time with a dear friend I hadn't seen in months; AND 3) tomorrow night is the birthday party of yet another friend, whom I also haven't seen in months. And a friend is DJing that party. Yay!

Edited to fix dumb typo.

I am dumbfounded. A mutual friend invited my sister and me (along with our husbands) to dinner. My sister declined and I accepted a day later. I got back an email saying the hostess had already made plans for that evening! I am amazed that she didn't wait for my response, or if she needed one ASAP, she didn't call me.

Message 302: BekkaJo, Hang in there. I know nothing can get us more upset than our children's behavior or misbehavior, not living up to expectations, pushing our buttons, etc. But have heart, one day (sooner than you'd ever expect) you'll be a grandmother and it will all be so much easier and enjoyable.

Hugs to those of you who needs it. I must admit that I have not read all 194 posts that had accumulated since I last visited the Dragon. Hope you all accept my apologies.

I'm happy because while in Thailand we discussed what trip to do next and we're agreed that it will probably be South Africa, if it's doable. "Next" will be 2011 or 2012, so it's not like next month, and there will be other, shorter, journeys in the meantime but SA is where I want to go :D

Hugs and a big drink or valium for BekkaJo. Everybody tells us the overwhelming love we will feel for our children, but rarely warn you that your children can also arouse the strongest negative emotions as well. And it is my personal opinion that toddlerhood is the hardest time in parenting. An infant will stay where you put them, a slightly older child you can begin to reason with and/or the punishment will at least make some sense - toddlers are just tough and made more so by the fact that you really can't take your eyes off them for a minute.

Happy - my health and strength have been good and I have been getting things done.

Unhappy - the sense of slowly impending doom in the world situation that I just can't shake no matter how many times I tell myself I am being silly and stupid and might have to put on my tinfoil hat.

As some of you have read elsewhere, my buying a new house seems to be progressing. We have a few more details - like an appraisal - and then we shall have a closing! Someone will hand me a key, and the house will be mine and the mortgage company's. As I will be using the current residence as a rental property I actually can move slowly and deliberately into the new place. New kitchen! New bathrooms! And I am assuming, a minimum of "fixes" needed. I am fantasizing a built-in bookcase with a reading bench around the window in the master bedroom! Oh, boy.

>309 Anastasia169: I wrote a long email to a friend today on the subject of the state of the world and how I keep from despairing. The gist of it is that there must have been many times in the past that people felt the same way--e.g., if you were a member of a Germanic tribe and the Roman legions were advancing, or a person in the Middle Ages watching a third of the population dying from the plague, or an American in the 1950s, sure that the Soviets were going to drop nukes any minute, plus, if you were a woman, being expected to wear heels and pearls and derive your life's meaning from being a wife, mother, and housekeeper.

There are plenty of grim things now, but there are also things like showers and antibiotics and computers; we have more leisure time than most previous generations and we have choices about what work we do and where we live that most people before us could not even imagine.

I worry about our destroying our planet or creating/encountering a virus we can't cure, but the rest of the nonsense I figure will work itself out. Life is wonderful and terrible, but it has always been so.

>311 ejj1955: True enough. :) And even though I am grieving for a feline friend, there are a lot harder things to deal with and I know it.

New Happy: a friend who has been in the hospital for two days with a mystery infection and a lot of pain has now been diagnosed and is getting the treatment he needs. If his wife had not forced him into the hospital, he might not have survived.

>296 NorthernStar: What a cute little fuzzball! I really like the little pink foot.
It is amazing how cats find us when we need them.

#311 - I know that we have a lot that others don't have even on this planet in this time. Funny that you mention the 14th century as I have thought of those poor people often as they must have been certain that armmageddon was just around the corner - especially as religion was real in a way we can't imagine today. And they had a period of famine before the plague hit - at least in England - that weakened everyone for the Black Death.

I am a believer that there are disasters that can't be planned for and thus try not to worry about them, which is why my feelings of low level anxiety bother me - this isn't how I normally operate. But you write: "I worry about our destroying our planet or creating/encountering a virus we can't cure, but the rest of the nonsense I figure will work itself out. Life is wonderful and terrible, but it has always been so."

And that is what I am worried about - resource and environmental degradation that are going to bite us in the ass in ways we can't imagine. Believe me, I am well aware that by the standards of history I live like a queen - but thanks for your kind words I will try to take both your advice and my own - that some things can't be worried about because we have no control and something that looks a lot like fate or luck or chance or destiny or God determines those outcomes.

*sigh*

I've just come back from a friend's birthday dinner, and while I had a wonderful time, I'm now feeling a bit melancholy. I know the reason, and it's something I won't go into here, but still... *sigh*

I think I'll just go to bed. Maybe it's the little sips of wine I had. Yeah, maybe it's just that.

#311
Thank you. That helped a bit. Really, it did. :) Especially this: Life is wonderful and terrible, but it has always been so.

Thanks guys - I've had a couple of hours of this morning which has made me feel much more mellow. It wasn't even really baby's fault yesterday - she was so tired she was just horrid without meaning to be.

I think that the juggling routine so many of us have to do these days - work/children/family/housework just gets wearing after a while if there's no let up. I guess eveyone needs to recharge their batteries once in a while!

Unfortunately/fortunately I have a new fairly high impact client at work, even though I only work part time and am already busy. It's a compliment because they asked me to take it specially, but at the same time I only work 7.30-1.00 and am up to my eyeballs already. Ah well... they've also said they'll pay my overtime (I'm just not sure where I fit that in...). So very conflicted and confused right now!

Oh re 310) So exciting and reminded me that I haven't shared this happy dance...(think of it to the tune of a congo or something similar);
'I don't need a new roof
I don't need a new roof
La la la
La la la - hey!
And hopefully that means we will be able to get our loft ocnversion moving shortly. Oh so much more positive this morning, no?

A decent night's sleep is one of the most precious things imaginable!

In the bad news/good news department, I've been sleeping pretty badly (4 or 5 hours, then I can't get back to sleep), but at least that means I'm up to watch Wimbledon.

I believe one of the reasons I love reading so much is that when, for whatever reason, I can not sleep well at night, I can read! And sometimes the reading distracts me sufficiently that I can then sleep. Reading just works like medicine sometimes.

I'm happy today because I had my first ever Green Dragon meet-up in York this afternoon with RitaFaye and her son!

I do have a picture to post but I haven't taken it off the camera yet but RitaFaye is having a cuddle with Babyreadseverything, who was not quite so impressed at being at his first GD meet-up but very impressed with his chocolate chip cookie (it was a special occasion and he seemed to know it was thanks to RitaFaye as he smiled at her a lot).

I also took advantage of being in York to buy Andrew's birthday present, even though his birthday is not while October. We are going to the Grand Opera House in York to see The Ukulele Orchestra of Great Britain (from the link I posted before). But don't tell him, it's a surprise.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLgJ7pk0X-s

yes, I have read well into the wee hours before, In the summer between 7th and 8th grade I used to read literally all night, and look up startled when the sun rose
I was sorry when Mom finally told me that I had better start sleeping at night so I would be ready for school in a couple weeks

I have found memories of reading way through the night during the summer vacations when I was younger, too. I still very occasionally indulge in that choice. But now, I can read whenever I want so it is not so often in the night.

Small unhappy: Im unsubscribing from Barnes and Noble's newsletters for the duration of my husband's salary reduction. The temptation is just too great.

#320 and #321 - Yes, reading all night is a happy and one I indulged in just last night. I too looked up startled to see that it was light outside and scolded myself for staying up so long. But, I think I may very well have been reading what will eventually become a new classic in apocalpytic/dystopian fiction, so worth it.

#323 and that would be?

Oh sorry, I have been reading The Passage by Justin Cronin. I read until it was light and was fairly certain I was reading a new classic until I found out that the story will be expanded into a trilogy and that the ending to make this a stand-alone could have used a little work. While I am thrilled as a reader to know that there are two big fat books coming, I am dismayed as a critic as I wonder if the author can maintain the pace. However, that niggling doubt aside, this is worth checking out. I would love to know what other Green Dragoners think.

When I drove home from Philly late last night I noticed closed roads and State Police cars as I got about ten miles from home. My route took me through an area known as the Pine Barrens.

Then I smelled and saw smoke. Very heavy woodsmoke. Another forest fire which isn't that rare an event. I drove through it for a few miles and could see it today when I went outside.

No worries as it's under control. Besides, fire is a part of the cycle of life in pine forests.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_Barrens_(New_Jersey)

http://www.nj1015.com/Firefighters-Continue-To-Battle-Ocean-County-Brush/7560787

http://www.app.com/article/20100627/NEWS03/100627016/Barnegat-wildfire-contained...

Just so long as there is no threat to you and yours.

#325, I am also reading The Passage, and loving it. I loved the first part better than where I am now (halfway through, part VI), but this is growing on me. I already love the fact that there will be two more, and hate that I will have to wait.

And for my happy: I know it sounds so materialistic and spoiled, but I am honestly very happy that I have gotten an iPad. They aren't released here yet so I had to order one from abroad, but it was so worth it.

For a nervous... It is so busy at work, I need a vacation but feel unable to take one because of how busy it is. To top it of, they have just posted an internal job opening that seems great, but I am nervous to reply because I have just gotten a new project to do and I would feel that I will let that supervisor down if I go for the other project. I know I shouldn't, it is my carreer and I should look out for me first, but still.... My boyfriend says I am just too sweet.... ;)

I am apartment hunting (again! my potential roommate bailed on me for perfectly understandable reasons and at least it was before we'd moved in somewhere) and unfortunately I am having very little luck finding anything that even looks like what I'm looking for. I'm probably going to have to do some major compromises to find an apartment and finally get out of this place.

MM

I'm not worried about it. Even the big ones in 07 and 08 didn't trouble me. There is a major highway (a natural firebreak) and cleared urban areas between my house and the Barrens.

NJ has a very experienced corps of firefighters, both local volunteers and state forestry service, who deal with this all the time. They do controlled burns every year to cut down the risk of fire in the dry seasons.

I'm not happy this morning. I nearly fainted at the gym. After lying down for a bit, I got myself home without incident, but ended up lying on the kitchen floor, to KB's consternation. Finally got past the about-to-pass-out nonsense, but I'm still feeling rather other wordly at best. I have no idea what this is about.

See your doctor, jennie. Really.

I know you're right, Mary. I will.

Feel better Jennie =/ Maybe you just worked out a little too much but it's always good to see a doctor for something like that.

#329 I hope you find another roommate and an apartment that you like well enough. I'll be starting that search in the next two years after I finish college. I really don't want to move back in with the parents...

In soap operas, when a woman faints it always means she's pregnant. Probably with quadruplets.

Fortunately, I am not living in a soap opera and I can absolutely guarantee that I am not pregnant.

>336 jennieg: Now that's what I call two reasons to be happy!

Or more, if you count the lack of quadruplets.

LOL!

Minor unhappy: Stupid ESPN in all its varieties. Their assumption is that any American playing is the match they should show, no matter who else is playing. And what really ticks me off is that after a day like today, with great match-ups and matches all over the place, they wrap up their coverage by reshowing a match they already showed (in this case, the S. Williams vs. Sharapova match). Arggghhh! Why not show one of the other matches instead?

Excuse me, I have to change the channel.

#336 - I said that too. Babyreadseverything is proof that I was wrong :-)

I can't speak for Jennie, but there are surprises, and then there's "call the Vatican."

For me it would definitley be call the Vatican. I have an eight-year-old granddaughter, for heaven's sake!

Hee, hee. Good thing your name isn't Sarah.

True enough. But wasn't the point that she didn't have any grandchildren (yet)?

I have a friend who had a "surprise" 3 years ago...she & her husband had 3 grandchildren...

Yeah. She didn't have any children. I was thinking more about age. She was even older than me!

#345 You can just keep your evil wishes to yourself, missie.

#346 Yeah, just goes to show you God's the ultimate trickster.

#347----

God and Dell are the ultimate tricksters IMHO. *groan* Let me explain:

I've had my laptop for a year, battery is under warranty for a year--- BUT and here's the evil trickster part--- warranty starts from day they shipped it, not the day you received sooo (take a guess) my battery died a year to the day from when I received it!!!!

Meaning it is NOT under warranty, must be replaced (not just rechargable) AND it's $150 to buy the frigging thing! Money I do not have...

But what REALLY got my knickers in a twist was visiting the Dell site wherein they explain that batteries are made to only last a year!!!! Arrrrrrgh. Somehow I don't think it's a coincidence that my battery went kaput 2 days before the warranty ran out!

Grrrr. So now I am computer-less for who knows how long; miserably ranting about this on my phone; to the only people I know might share my frustration. :(

A happy kind of day. Decided to blow off all responsibilities and hit the road.

Stopped at B & N and picked up four books. Actually put three others back.

Then drove cross country to one of my favorite farms. Came home with sugar-free blueberry pie, sugar-free blueberry fruit spread, blueberry muffin mix (feeling lazy), and cucumber dill salad dressing.

Now heading out to the bar for video trivia night.

>349 OldSarge: Sounds like the perfect day, Sarge.

Unhappy: found out the main ride at the new Harry Potter park at Universal in Florida has size restrictions, such that my fluffy self will most likely not be able to go on it. This makes me quite sad.

The article (here: http://www.aolnews.com/weird-news/article/fat-harry-potter-fans-turned-away-from... notes that a third of American adults are obese, but the amusement park designers representative still has the nerve to say "You can't build for that narrow segment of the population."

Since when is a third of the population a narrow segment?

Not to mention an appalling way of phrasing it.

>350 ejj1955:
Don't you know? Us fluffy folk are supposed to stay sequestered in our homes, spending our days bemoaning the fact that we can't fit into size 0 skinny jeans. We are not to impose our unseemly girth on the rest of the populace by doing something as bold as visiting an amusement park.

And yet I'm nearly sure that the pumpkin juice and butter beer beverages won't be offered in sugar-free versions. Because what narrow segment of the population would want that?

The diabetic kind? *frown* Really, the people in charge of the amusement park are letting their prejudice show here. I smell a lawsuit pending about their clearly sizist attitude.

hugs to you, ejj. And sorry to hear about the amusement park. :(

Thank you, PandorasRequiem. I'd be surprised if they get a lawsuit, as they are claiming this is a safety issue. And this sort of thing is so acceptable--witness the airlines who can charge larger people for two seats. It's not that I think anyone should be crowded in their seat by the person next to them--what I think is that airline seats should be larger than 17 or 18 inches wide.

I paid for two seats last time I flew. How happy was I to see other passengers lying full-length in the five empty seats in the center section of the plane?

#345 et al.: I was one of those (a surprise); I'm younger than my niece. :)

My sister in law was so ...fluffy...that she had to walk down the main roller coaster hill from the top because the alarm at the top of the hill stopped the coaster sensing that her seat belt and bar weren't latched. talk about embarressment she was in tears following the attendent down the narrow maintenance pathway. Something like that should be sensed at the platform before the ride starts, of course this was years and years ago so maybe they have changed things now. Of course it could have been tragic if she'd flown out of the seat had the ride gone on.

How horrible. Apparently there are sample seats that people can be pulled out of line to try out to see if they can go on the ride. But the pulling out of line process can appear a bit random, reports say.

A happy/not so happy at the same time. Had my first interview/exam today with the docs doing my review board for the disability process.

My military career isn't over yet, but this is the beginning of the end.

Hugs for Sarge. It's got to be a bittersweet feeling.

The beginning of a new beginning, my friend.

*hugs* Sarge - new beginnings are always a challenge because of the endings they involve

on that note - 10 days til the big move to Omaha

One last one for June
Happy: I bought the kitten one of those ball in a round track toys and she keeps hitting the ball then looking in the direction it would have went without the track (quite fun to watch). And once she gets the idea, she makes herself dizzy going around and around and around.

Unhappy: Air conditioning is out at home and it is a hot week here in California's Central Valley.

After spending the morning working in a somewhat cranky mood because it's just one of those days, my mood has improved tremendously thanks to: 1) a tiny little something I was waiting to happen, well, happening, and 2) I've been confirmed that a two-year-old debt (amounting to $1,000 no less!) might be settled soonish. Yay! I had almost, almost given up and written that debt off after many failed attempts to contact that client.

Now, if I could just finish writing this awfully dull report...

Rio, that sounds really cute! I'd love to see a picture. Sadly, I can't own (or even touch) cats because of severe allergies but I love watching them.

Today my boyfriend and I have been together 11 months! It's amazing...he's the only guy I've been with for over a month and I'm constantly thankful for how good he is to me. He's a fantasy geek as well. I got him to read A Game of Thrones and almost the complete works of Brandon Sanderson.

Totally random: got annoyed with Firefox so downloaded Chrome. So far I'm really liking it. Faster. Some good features. Early days yet . . . but so far, nice.

I really like Chrome. Very stable.

An interesting day. A computer program upgrade at work was supposed to start at 5:00am and be over by 7:00am, most people don't leave hotels before that, so, simple. Noooooo. It didn't start until after 7 and then took over 6 hours to finish. Sigh. Not impossible, just irritating. Back to the days of manual checkouts.

However, I had a very happy/high spot in my day. Last November, one of our regular guests, a quiet, kind man, told me he didn't know if he would ever see me again. His business was going bankrupt and he was facing major heart surgery and something in his intestines as well. The poor man had a pasty grey complexion. I told him I would pray for him. I did so and left it with God. I really didn't think about him very much until this last month. He was often on my mind and I felt sad, wondering if I would ever know if he survived or not. I prayed every time he came to mind. Well, today, in the midst of all the irritating nonsense that is work, I looked up and who should I see walking down the stairs, the picture of health and smiling from ear to ear? Yes! When I told him how much he had been on my mind and how I was praying for him this month he almost cried. He said he had been terribly afraid because he had another scary procedure (but not so dangerous) coming up. It was lovely to remind him that he was not alone and I remembered him. Gave me a happy day all day that I now know he is at least healthy and enjoying his life again.

Sorry for the long story! I'm still just so pleased to have seen him and know how he is.

Great story, MrsLee.

MrsLee - how nice for you! and I'm sure for him as well, to know someone was concerned for him.

Not greatly happy - following in Jennieg's footsteps here. Got home from the library yesterday and passed out on the lounge floor - woke up to my toddler pushing my head and yelling 'Wake up Mummy' at the top of her voice. Luckily she wasn't scared - she just thought I was playing sleepy mummy like we do sometimes...

Bah - stupid heat I think...

On the plus side a friend who fell off his bike and hit his head a couple of weeks ago (and was then sent home with mild concussion - hardly!) is starting to come out of the enforced coma they had to put him into - after operating and making lots of holes in his head etc. It's been a rough week or so for his wife but at least she can hope again now.

Get yourself checked out, BekkaJo, especially if you're home alone with the baby. Mine turned out to be just a summer virus my doctor described as 'the crud.'

Please, Bekka. Holding you and your wee one in my heart.

Unhappies Vincent is fussy and teething. He has a very high temp that I can't get to go away for more than a few hours at a time and i have tried just about everything I can think of to make him more comfortable but its not working.
He just screams and SCREAMS and SCREAMS.

Because of his screaming I've had the people above us come down and shout at me about the noise. saying it keeps them and their child up.

Also my partner forgot to pay his part of the our rent to own bill and so when i went in to make the payment i was told there was 103 pounds to pay. I couldn't have paid it all because it would have left me with nothing.
So i paid 60 and told him he had to pay 42. He got angry and screamed at me.

So yeah I have my son screaming because he's teething, and not well, the neighbors fussing at me because of him fussing and then my partner fussing because of something he failed to do!

I want to crawl into a hole somewhere and just pretend the world doesn't exist anymore.

Your partner could hold Vincent while you go for a walk this evening. Do what you need to do to take care of yourself. And then, remember...this too shall pass.

My happy: air conditioning.

#372 +373 It's okay - I know what happened now. Honestly - still not feeling fab (am completely exhausted) but it's fine and good. :)

Thanks for reporting in. Glad to hear things are at least acceptable.

Very happy! Have lost seven pounds! I am now exactly 17 stone :D

The goal is to get down to 10 stone as that is the ideal weight for my height and body build. I hope I can achieve my goal :) *fingers crossed*

Rune, I'm worry everything is so rough for you right now. If your neighbors had to be in your situation for a few hours they would probably start screaming themselves. I hope your little one gets better.