Coffee and...part 12 :-D

Ahhh, a sister thread....I am up at 2:40 AM - can't sleep - going thru that again!!! Good thing I don't have to get up and go to work in the morning!!

My sister is four years younger than I am. Growing up she was the laziest, most good for nothing thing!!. Our mom would tell us to 'clean the house' while mom was at work. Sis would lay around and read (she still does that!!) Sis moved 5 hrs south of me and for the past 30 yrs, we have been so so close. We talk weekly by phone every Sat. for 1-2 hrs. She married the most wonderful man - she doesn't do a thing - he grocery shops, cooks, does the laundry - generally treats her like a queen. I on the other hand do all of the above. Plus, he is a millionaire!!! (but you'd never know it)

When she comes for a visit, she doesn't lift a hand - bed unmade, glasses all over, never brings any food etc, but we spend our time together laughing SO hard and often. She is the cheapest person I have ever met - never has gotten my two boys gifts etc, and complains about spending $$ all the time (now that gets old since she has so much $$) and drives an old clunker that is chocked full of papers and food wrappers.

In fact she is coming up to spend a week here on Sat. - we are house sitting for my younger brother and his two teenagers. I know we will have a grand time, but after I week, I am ready for her to be gone. But can't wait to see her. I could go on and on about her faults, as there are many, but I am sure she could do the same for me. Enough of that!!

Our warm weather has vanished - just waiting for the rain and cold to come in - snow showers were even mentioned...YUCK...

I do need to pot up a boat load of dahlia tubers. Got a question here. I dug my tubers, stored them, and now want to pot them up, but I have humungous clumps - can I break off some of the tubers and pitch them??? They need 10 gal size pots to fit in and I just don't have room for all those pots. When I buy tubers, I get one stinking little tuber. Still haven't mastered tuber saving I think!

Dang, I could use something sweet. I finished off the peanut butter brownies last night and nothing more is on the counter for me to nibble on - don't want to start baking at this hour.

Well, I will be here more often now that the weather has turned back to nasty - been really busy outside- in fact my right hand is all swollen from digging and pulling weeds!

See ya in the morning (when I get up again!!)

Hi everyone! Ahhhh the sweet dulcid sounds of 'sisters'. LOL (I can laugh because I "are" one! :-D) I have two sisters, and thank goodness BOTH of them live far enough away from me that I don't really have to deal with them or their 'quirky' personalities. One is "Holier than thou" the other used to a druggie and alcoholic (I don't really know if she still is or not...and would rather *not* have her living in my house again.) In other words...Darius, I hope you're as good 'fixing' and 'mending' rips and tears in family relationships than I am. (I don't envy you your position in the least...but that doesn't stop me from hoping everything will work out for the best for *both* of you. ;-))

LOL ...Mary, that nail polish just might work! But then I *could* stop and stick letters on with tape, too...I'm just too lazy. hehehe

Sarv...I hope you're feeling better now.

Robert...yummy! I love rhubarb! Somewhere in my collection I have *the* best rhubarb and strawberry cake. I think it was made with sour cream and had the most woderful texture (utterly SINFUL! LOL)

Marcia...I love your new DG name too...I looked at the 'BetsyBug' and saw the name 'Marcia' at the end...COOL!

I'm not taking time to look backwards so I know I've left someone out. Today is my *Friday* (the last day with Angel for the week). I got two packages of plants this morning and have lots to get planted *soon*. Who said 'GH envy?' dang...time! I gotta run...sorry...

~julie~

Hi, Everyone...

Goodies in the mail today!!! ... a new silpat (for baking). Mine just diasppeared 2 months ago. (HOW can that happen in a 900 sq. ft. apartment?) My caladium bulbs from the caladium co-op came, and a "beater jar" I won off ebaY.

When I was growing up, like everyone we'd have pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving and Christmas and I always got to whip the cream after I became a teenager. My grandfather had this beater jar which we would chill overnight in the refrigerator. The glass was very thick, so when the cream was whipped, it wouldn't separate while on the table. The beater jar originally had a top with an integral hand beater, like the old egg beaters but we never used that part, just an elec. beater. I'm sure the jar must have belonged to my grandmother who died when I was 5.

There have been many beater jars on ebaY but none like my grandmother's. I have looked for one for a long time, and finally one came up on ebaY 2 weeks ago and I bid on it... and won. If I NEVER make whipped cream again, I am still thrilled to have it!

Yeah! For Darius! (I'd like to find one of those glass 'chopper' dohickies with the wooden circle in the bottom...and a wooden ball on the top. And then there's the egg beaters and sifters....uh oh...here I go again. LOL

~julie~

Julie... what's a

It was an onion chopper. The glass jar had a little round wooden "chopping block" in the bottom. There was a spring-actuated plunger with 4 blades on the bottom. You banged the wooden handle (knob) on the top down onto the onion over and over again until it was c hopped up. I'll look for a picture.

Ahh, I know what those choppers look like... even had one myself years ago.

Here's a poem/story for us all:

I like being old!

The other day a young person asked me how I felt about being old. I was taken aback, for I do not think of myself as old. Upon seeing my reaction, she was immediately embarrassed, but I explained that it was an interesting question and I would ponder it, and let her know.

Old age, I decided, is a gift. I am now, probably for the first time in my life, the person I have always wanted to be. Oh, not my body! I sometime despair over my body, but I don't agonize over it for long.

I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly. As I've aged, I've become more kind to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so grand on my patio.

I am entitled to overeat, to be messy, to be extravagant. I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read until 4 am, and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 50's & 60’s, and if I at the same time wish to weep over a lost love, I will. I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten; and I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turn gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver. I can say "no", and mean it. I can say "yes", and mean it. As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer the question, I like being old. It has set me free.

I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. For the first time in my life, I don't have to have a reason to do the things I want to do. If I want to play games on the computer all day, lie on the couch and watch old movies for hours or don't want to go to the beach or a movie, I have earned that right. I have put in my time doing everything for others, so now I can be a bit selfish without feeling guilty.

I sometimes feel sorry for the young. They face a far different world than I knew growing up, where we feared the law, respected the old, the flag, our country. I never felt the need to use filthy language in order to express myself. And they too will grow old someday. I am grateful to have been born when I was, into a kinder, gentler world.

Yes, I like being old!

Darius, could not have said it any better
A special hug for you, Maria

And here's something that should encourage us all...

Ziegfield Girl, 101 years old and still dancing

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050416/ap_on_en_ot/theater_ziegfeld_girl_returns_4

That's OK Darius.Really OK.There's a lot of truth in that isn't there.When you can realize there are fewer days ahead than behind it makes each day all the more precious. Here's a whipper we were able to put together some years ago.The beater is from my MIL and the glass was an antique store find.We don't use it but reserve it as a treasured memento of my wifes youth on the farm.

WOW, Robert! That looks like the one my grandfather had, intact, jar and all!

I wasn't interested in the whole apparatus, just the jar. Maybe I should have held out for a complete unit but it might have been a lot more money.

Betty! That's it, *exactly!* An onion 'smasher' LOL

Darius...that's a great piece of material to reflect on. I'm still working on that 'feeling guilty' part. :-D

ROBERT!! I can HEAR those gears!

~julie~

Whew... I really cannot tell all of you how much I appreciate your patience while I vented about my sister. I think I'm over most of it now, and Life goes on.

I will need to figure now how to support myself (with my lung disability) over and above my SS check that doesn't make ends meet, but I've never been one to give in or give up. My sister offered me an opportunity but the strings turn out not to be worth it. I'd rather starve than capitulate.

I promise not to bring anymore heavy stuff in here if I can help it. This is a great place to knosh and share wonderful things...

Darius...it's also a place where friends *listen* to friends. I appreciate your openess. I hope you're there when *I* need it! :-D

~julie~

Darius, I think you make us laugh as hard as you make us cry. Plus, the universe is ordered so that we can't have one without the other.

It's most cathartic to hear someone else emote about something I myself sometimes think I cannot endure another minute of. So, let's not promise to stick just to light stuff. I don't know about you folks, but I feel lighter myself when someone else gets something off her chest that has been suffocating me. (Personally, I refer to the family I came from - all good people, but...too complicated to articulate)

We all seem to identify with each others' issues of family and hearth and garth, etc. Water in the basement? There's a space between the stones in the front of our house that water from the back from up the hill runs out. The house has stood over 100 years with its own personal little "runnel". Some here have a well in the cellar. I met someone else whose cellar is dirt floored with a constantly running stream beneath the toilet!

Well, hubby stores so much stuff down there that it's impossible to clean, so you know what? I don't go down there. (Have also given up on the tool shed - hubby loves to go on about the natural history of the luxuriantly hairy arachnoids with glowing petipalps in there.)

I love hearing Mary's stories about lambing and horseback riding. We are walkers ourselves, and today perhaps had the best walk of the year following horsetrails along a river swirling with glades of blooming trout liles, spring beauties, violets yellow and purple, lingering toothwort beneath tulip poplars. The branchery and twiggery were just beginning to film over in green, newly emerging leaves. Sky pristine blue. Breezes. So much fun to share with others' outdoor excursions in different parts of the world on this thread.

Like Kooger, I need to re-enter the working world, but have a few complications to resolve. Kooger, you've been very inspiring in how you have met challenges and changes in your life.

Sarv, I don't know how many times you have made me spurt coffee all over my keyboard. I procrastinate. Messes have eons to burgeon in my house - more than the space of time of an afternoon you gave those crumbs on the sofa arms. So, from the heights of my sloth, when I look down on the conniptions you go through with your itty-bitty messes, you make me lighten up and laugh.

Woodspirit brings the sense and serenity to this thread that I have to go to the woods to find. You are saving DH and I a lot of gas. LOL

I do get behind with this thread. Will try to keep up better and post more. We have a lot to share this spring.

Best to you all, Karen

awwww - what a bunch we are... Please bring on the heavy stuff - makes me feel like I am not the only one in doodoo. Everyone has their cross to bear - it's heartening to see that you are not the only one going thru trials. Actually making it thru the junk in our lives, makes us stronger, better people - and we can laugh at some of the stuff that was causing us grief. Remember when a zit on the face was 'the end of the world!!" Now I consider myself lucky that I can still see them! LOL

Cold weather returns to Mich. I am going to put all my tender stuff in the greenhouse in a wagon and bring it in the house under lights. Won't have enough room for everything, but I am paranoid about things freezing. I don't have a heater for the greenhouse and DH would have a fit if I mentioned it (has to be his idea ya know - somethings never change) We're talking major winds and even snow for a few days. Mother nature being bad again....BUT my castor beans sprouted yesterday, so all is well with the world!!

Just heard that they are cutting our medical benefits, so a job may be in the future for me too. Darn, just as I was loving retirement... Almost wish I was older so I could qualify for medicare!! Going to a meeting in May to hear the dire news - but we'll make it thru this too - it's not like I am the only one this effects (or is it affects??)

Haven't posted for a few days - been reading but so little time, not enuf money , etc. u know the drill ... I got all the dead tops cut off the plants, now I need to rake it up. Planted a 4 foot lilac bush yesterday - it came from the parsonage lawn, we're adding on so 3 bushes had to go. Also scouting out babies and plants that can be shared for the IA RU. I found about a dozen Palace Purple Heuchera babies and offered a few to my 78 yr old neighbor.

Big mistake - she came over to look at them and told me I need to get ChemLawn to come and spray my dandelions when they come and do her's. Sorry, not interested! Every dandelion in her lawn gets dug out so mine are a real problem for her. Last year she painted her house, this year she's redoing her flower beds - irks me because I've given her quite a few extras from my yard and garden and she has never offered anything in return. Mon she dug up most of her 3 beds and threw them all out - even told her last week I'd be interested in a few things, doesn't matter, out they went. She's quite the wonder woman, hope I'm half that spry in my late 70s!! I don't let her stinginess bother me - glad she likes the plants I've given her.

Every year she gets a whole bunch of rhubarb from me for pies and jam. There's lots so I just tell her to go ahead. Someone asked me what her jam is like and I said, no idea, never tasted it. I got the 'you mean she gets all her rhubarb from u and never brings u anything? That's right! so the next time she was telling me all about her jam, I said that it sounded really good, I'd like to try some some time. She brought me over a little jar and it was good. Very yummy! Now she never mentions what she's making with the rhubarb, just asks for it and says she has some baking to do. lol ...makes me chuckle! (and thankful I was raised to me a sharer)

Couldn't sleep after DH left so thought I'd do some studying for work - still more shortcuts and call procedures to learn - some days I think I'll never learn it all but my super tells me I'm doing excellent and ask good questions so maybe my brain is absorbing more than I think. I hope so! I hate it when I screw up a call. I try to write down the type of call (if I think I goofed)and what I did before the next call comes in - usually can only get a few scribbles down, but just enuf that I can ask if I did it right or what I should have done.

Had a disturbing call yesterday - a battle between family members - crying, screaming, yelling, cursing, threats to call the cops, going to jail, stealing money .....the whole gammit SO sad! NOT fun!!

Mary - I love reading about ur rides too. Just the sort of thing that is up my alley - except not on a horse. Lovely creatures but have been a bit spooked about them since one reared up with me on it and whacked their head on mine - cracked side of my nose. I only ride sedate ones. :) In my teens and younger days I would pack a lunch and head to the fields and woods, sometimes with the old .22 to get groundhogs. They were lucky, I didn't get very many. lol

Karen - glad to see u posting and thanks for the positive comments. I'm overall, quite pleased with my performance at work - actually a little surprised maybe even? I hope u find something that suits u too! It's not easy being a GOB (well almost, 8 months and counting - lol) - shades of 'it's not easy being green!' (kermit) Ok I'll go back to bed now - brain is not right sometimes lol

have a good day all!!

This message was edited Apr 21, 2005 6:51 AM

Karen...? BlueSpiral? Not the same 'Karen' that was sending the Monet study/lessons/super fantastic paintings? Nah! That just couldn't be. (And not the same one who has problems remembering which 'Julie' she's sending plants to? ) LOL, I'll bet it IS! It's *wonderful* to see you posting here!

Kooger...don't you just *love* those kind of people who don't seem to remember *where* things come from? If I stop and think about it, I'm sure I can find a family member or two (both DS's LOL) who fit that description...it's not just neighbors!

Sarv...you never fail to catch me off guard with some of your comments. And you did it again this morning. Talk about "spitting coffee"...boy am I glad I *didn't* have my mouth full when I read your post. hehehe (it was the 'seeing' the "zit" that did it!) Did you start your castor beans directly in the ground or did you pot them? I have some to plant to and wasn't sure what the best method would be.

I should be outdoors planting some Monk's Hood, Obedient Plant and some perennial salvia before the cold returns to our area tomorrow. Actually, I could use some 'indoor' time to get a bit of laundry done and plant some seeds that I'm not certain where I want to put outside yet. But it sure feels good to have a little time to just sit and read here on DG. That doesn't happen very often.

OH...nearly forgot! Kooger, I was supposed to remind you about the sedum. (I *did* forgot...but I remembered. LOL)

Well...I guess I've put it off as long as I dare. I only have a couple of hours before I have to leave to see the eye doctor. (THANK goodness! My eyes are so bad right now that I can't tell the difference between poison ivy and a wild raspberry seedling...and *that's* dangerous! :-D)

Later...
~julie~

Ahh, Julie... Karen is the one and the same! Great to have her here!

I need my eyes checked too, and a glaucoma test. Alas, no $ and no Medicaid help until I run up another $4300+ in med. bills.

Darius...I know the "$" routine when it comes to medical expenses. I just checked my bank account and found that the State *has* cashed my check for nearly $7,000 for the high risk health coverage from the state 'pool'. (HIRSP) The only thing is, I've not heard a word from them with an actual acceptance or a package containing info and a ID. I guess they wanted to see if my money was any good first, eh? (I don't really know if that policy will cover optical and/or dental...that would be nice. ;-)

I'm sitting here eating a slice of toast with cream cheese...there's extra if anyone wants a taste.

~julie~

Julie, soak that castor beans in warm water for 24 hrs, then pot up and put in a warm place. I stuck my out in the greenhouse because it was so warm here, but brought them in this morning. Wouldn't you know the sun came out and the greenhouse was toasty warm, but supposed to be cloudy and cold for the next week, so I know they are safe and sound inside.

Just got back from the grocery store, $180 bucks - man....but I did get a lot of junk (housesitting with teenagers) and I always bring loads of snack foods so we can pig out and enjoy ourselves!! They can diet when their mom comes home. I have a feeling this time I will have to be especially vigilant- the youngest (15 yr) was just caught sneaking her boyfriend in thru the basement sliders - and her parents were HOME in bed!!!! Good thing I am a light sleeper..

You wouldn't believe what I am doing. I have so many groceries, that I don't want to unload all of them. So I took out just the frozen stuff, put it away and got on the computer. DH will be home in half an hour and I will begin to unload as he comes in the door - LOL - how's that for getting outta work!!! Now I sound like a teenager....

My stomach is rolly polly today - stopped at Wendy's - maybe that's whats the matter. Fast food just doesn't sit well with me, but I keep trying it! (didn't get the fries tho)

Well, need to get outside and tie up some of the clematis that is flapping around - don't want it to get broken off.

Kids coming for dinner - menu is spaghetti and the most yummy poppy seed, swiss cheese, mustard bread...I could make a meal of just that!~Cherry cobbler out of a box for dessert - DGS gets to make that...

I come from a very proper family, where to this day, if someone isn't sitting properly upright on the edge of their chair during a visit, black purple is the wrath visited upon them.

Soooo...1) I take special delight in sharing the following gross zit tale here and believe that 2) I've been exposed to too many Horseshoe stories and 3) I'm among compradres. When I was 20, and walking to a bus downtown after work one summer day, a zit on my face exploded and hit someone walking by me. Sarv, it may not have been the "end of the world" every day for me that summer, but it certainly was the top of Mt. St. Helen. LOL

Sarv, I think you and I have an act.

Glaucoma is something I'm at high risk for and avoiding follow-up because of cost of treatment and medication, which once on, you have to stay on. So I cannot preach. But Darius, have you considered approaching your doctor with your situation and asking for a flexible payment plan? I should not be making a suggestion like this when I have no immediate intention of taking my own advice. It's a tough call whether to risk health or go into debt. But DH and I are choosing to take the time given to us after being laid off, for a while, to enjoy life together and pursue our own creative dreams. It's not a decision for everyone.

Have not given up on the Monet, Julie and Darius. Am hung up on a couple of ideas that require more research and organization than I thought - will be sending out "paintings" again of Monet, along with other artists who either influenced Monet or were influenced by him, and seasonable flowers and gardens. I hope to start up again soon.

Who would have guessed (not moi) that the French Impressionists would have been so profoundly shaped by Japanese woodcuts from the Edo period? It's all the more fascinating because the Japanese culture was pretty much closed to the West for millenia until a very short time before Paris became flooded with them. The flowers, gardens and landscapes of both are unearthly beautiful, to me. If anyone wants to join, email me. I'm learning as I go, and Julie, Darius and other friends have kindly joined me to "see what's over the next hill."

Kooger, sounds like spring where you are with the rhubarb rising. It took so long to make our garden, that I don't think the magic of daffies and daylilies returning every spring will ever loose its dazzle for me.

Woodspirit, I know how it feels when your family wants to adopt you out. And then there's the "as if" factor - treating you "as if" you are dumb, or uncaring, or worthless - take your pick of negative adjectives, none of which have any basis in reality. But - I don't know if this extends to you - which I believed, because as a child, I had no other reference points. I walk with each foot in a different world - one world of hope and the other of hopelessness. I hope I'm not miring this thread down at this point. This is just to say I hear you and thank you, all, for helping me keep both feet in the hopeful world.

Karen, funny zit story.

I always incurred the wrath of various "keepers" as I was growing up. Never learned to eat with one hand in my lap and could not sit properly in a chair. Still can't. Even as I write this (remember I'm almost 65!) I am sitting with both feet up in my chair, almost yoga style except I've never been that limber. Food somehow always went down better with my feet under me and a book in front of me...

I'm off in the morning to middle Georgia for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Saturday is the big day for the GARU plant swap and lunch together. I'm hosting a "let's hang-out" gathering tomorrow night at my cabin at the KOA, with easy eats on the grill and a bonfire later. My truck is already packed with some firewood, charcoal, etc.

Of course, I'm not packed, LOL. I did get into town today to get laundry done so at least I will have clean clothes to pack and to wear!

Pati, if you are still lurking... I went to Wick & Greene's with my ring with a broken bezel. They wanted $400-$500 so I brought it back home.

Y'all have a great weekend!

Good golly miss molly!!!!!!!!!!!!! I knew the owner, we went to high school together, and last time I was in there he and his wife were ready to retire. I went to school with her too. He went to work in the store after school (late 40's) and bought the owner out in the early 60's. Kept the name because it had been there for years. Really sorry you didn't get your ring fixed. Maybe you'll have better luck in TN.

Have a GREAT weekend!
Pati

darius,

What kind of ring are you talking about?

Hap

Hap, it's an antique onyx ring... here's 2 photos

Here's the inside, engraved "1891". You can see the split on the right where the bezel has separated from the shank.

Oh Dern, I was hoping it was a bezel on a clock. My DH could help with that. Sorry, no help here.

Have you posted it in general disc?

Nope, but I do have an old friend who is a jeweler. She has made several pieces for me over the years, all spectacular.

Darius,

Have a safe trip, have a good time, give eveyone a hug for me and sing a song for me. I will miss seeing yall at the round up.

Molly
:^))))

Will do, Molly... all except singing a song... don't want to scare anyone away!

I just saw on t.v. where Julia Roberts and Paul Newman are going to do a Sonny and Cher spoof for charity. Isn't that going to be a hoot!

Should be good! darius - have a safe trip and a good time - been meaning to email - will catch u on the flip side!

Didnt forget the sedum - yet - too wet again, raining again today - boy this working thing sure cuts down on flower time!!!!!!!!! lol I'll get it, soon, no promise on what day tho. :)

Kooger, I think you are doing well just to manage your new job and get home at night! I'm behind on promised things and I don't even work, LOL.

Thanks friend! I 'm just so thankful I found something I can do and do well and not be utterly exhausted at night! Did that selling cookies, but I was surprised how quickly the ole bode got in shape - need some of that shaping exercise now!! ha ha! Also noticed I got gardening done a lot faster when I was in better shape too!! Now there's some incentive - DH and I BOTH have to get out walking.

This just came in an email... it's probably been around the world several times but I thought it was funny enough to post here..

LOL @ Kooger...you sound *just* like me! :-D

Sorry folks...it's my turn to bring down the crowd. I wrote the whole story and decided it was TOO gorey to leave in place. SOOoooo, the verdict is my eyesight is currently 20/2,000 and 20/4,000. Nope, not a typo. No wonder I couldn't *see!* Doc said that as I stand at the moment, I'm "legally blind" and corrective lenses are only a temporary 'fix'. She didn't want me to even consider getting glasses. Wanted me to have surgery immediately. I opted for the prescription...at least for a couple of months. Too many reasons (or excuses) to go into right now. Of course, one of them is "$'s". I'm not sure whether our current health insurance will cover cataract surgery...and I know the HIRSP policy won't cover a pre-existing condition for at least 6 months after the policy takes effect...if it even covers optical at all.

Oh YUCK!

Enough of this CR@P! :-D

When I got home, there were three nice big boxes of plants sitting on my porch. A nice surprise since I didn't expect them until Saturday at the earliest. I think the nicest part of all was that Park's had sent replacement plants for some that I'd ordered last fall that had come in in bad condition (rotted!) The replacements are beautiful! Nice to do business with a company that actually stands by their commitment.

So, obviously, I've got a little more work to do. :-)

((( ~ Hugs to ALL! ~ )))

Darius...PLEASE have a GREAT trip! (You GO girl!)

See y'all tomorrow,

~julie~

darius - laughing so hard i can't see to type .... ROTFLMBO!!!! Man, I knew there was some thievery going on, but my goodness, the extent of it is mind-boggling!! (P.S. the quote didn't work because you spelled quote wrong - got the brain too, did they?) LOL

Kooger, Yeah, I fixed the spelling... brain is on hold, LOL. (Unless the thieves got it already, hard to know.)

Julie... that's DREADFUL about your eyesight. Cataract surgery is covered under Medicare but I don't suppose you are old enough... But good news about the plants!

oh julie - bummer! sorry I was posting the same time as u - wasn't ignoring your post. That's awful!