Will you tell me something great that happened today, Part XIX?

Your wish was our command!

Today is my mother’s birthday, which is all I got, but it is great…for her certainly.

Happy Birthday @ucme ‘s Mom!

If I told her that an American penguin on the internet wished her a happy birthday she’d wanna see for herself & we can’t be having that, this shit is private…I thank you on her behalf @janbb that was good of you :)

Good news: I got an invitation to run the river in the Grand Canyon.

Bad news: They leave in 9 days and I don’t know if I can get it together and make all the necessary arrangements that quick. It also means being gone for about 3 weeks and a couple of days.

I just woke up to the lawn mowers blaring and the sweet smell of fresh cut grass for the first time this season. I forgot how much more I prefer waking up to that instead of the blare of the alarm clock which I would like to throw on the lawn and let one of the mowers run over. :) Great wake up call guys. So I better get up and run downstairs and get a couple antihistamine, right now :/ lol

I thought I was going to be late to work, then I wasn’t.

Alex Ferguson has announced he will be retiring.

I’m babysitting my delightful newborn nephew five days a week, and it’s so much fun! I may dress him in his “Auntie’s Little Man” outfit and take him grocery shopping today. It would be my first outing with a baby in six years! I’m paranoid that I’ll forget to put something necessary in the diaper bag, haha!

Aaaaaaand, I’m planning to have my nails done later, after the baby is picked up! Going out to have your nails done is pretty exciting when you lead a boring life. :)

I’ve been working on cleaning out the excess stuff in my house. A friend and I rented a cargo van and cleaned out the garage yesterday. ½ ton of stuff to bulk trash, $99. worth of scrap metal sold, and household goods donated to church charity shop. I feel cleansed and achy.

And one more day to summer vacation!

The weather is really nice here in Boston today. That’s good.

It looks like the wood floor is finally going down in my new master bedroom and we hired the excavator to start the foundation for my yoga room!

I have Pringles :D

I woke up to find an encouraging note in my Fluther PMs.

Thanks Jan!
Nothing great with me this morning. My allergies are deadly, I feel like crap..but going to see my daughter this afternoon and a friend to help her choose a dress for her sons wedding. :-)

Nobody’s tried to kill me today. That’s always good. Also, Happy Birthday Mrs Ucme’s Mommy!

Nice one Symbers, she’s been spoilt enough already, now her birthday wishes go global…eeh, what will they think of next?

Oh, I also just found out that I made the list of 15 finalists in an essay contest. This is the best of both worlds because I didn’t really want to get top prize (a 5 day trip to DC in the middle of everything else I’m doing this summer), but I still wanted to know I did well on it. And, hey, the free year membership in the Minnesota historical society will be awesome! We have a really cool history museum. So yeah, I’m doing alright.

The weather finally stabilized and I moved my plants outside!

My neighbor brought me Boston Creme pie. I guess there are a few amenities to living in town. Nobody walks 10 acres away to bring you pie in the woods. Then again, you also don’t have to listen to loud bomber cars. Pffft! lol

My husband’t foot surgery was successful! He a “broken fifth Metatarsal,” and it’s been a problem for months. Now all I have to do is be at his beck-and-call for almost everything for a few days!

Finally warm enough to start running outside again :)
It’s so much nicer than running a track all the time.

I biked 5 miles on my exercise bike and did 1 mile on my Gizelle (a walking/running thing). That is a lot for me these days.

Also, Piper’s (our dog) training exercises went really well today. I was working on her in the back yard. She’s doing great!

Hey something else cool happen today! :D After work, since it was so beautiful out, I decided to go on a trek in the woods around the outskirts of town. There’s waterfalls you can go check out, and bike trails. But if you go a little further passed the bike trails, there’s other trails there, although they are unused, with caution signs telling you not to go. I saw them before and didn’t go, but this time I’m like, well why not. I mean this isn’t a big ass forest, if anything happened, someone would hear me if I screamed. I wore this makeshift exercise outfit, which included these ugly pink shorts that are really bright, so at least if I fell and died somewhere, my corpse could be easily spotted. Haha. Had a water bottle and a small snack, and went adevnturin’, like Indiana Jones.

Turns out those abandoned trails weren’t much of anything, and in no way dangerous, unless you’re an idiot. Nobody has maintained them for a while, but just walking all the way to the woods and back made me feel pretty cool. But one thing I did find that was awesome…a busted up old piece of shit bridge! It’s a small bridge, just going over a small creek. I mean it was barely even a creek. I just hopped over it. XD
But the bridge that went over it was totally caved in, and all the boards were thick with green moss. I tried stepping on it, seeing if I could cross it. talk about not being an idiot But you could feel the boards you were stepping on sinking, and small chunks fell apart under my feet, so I’m all, fuck that. One bad part of this was that after hopping over the creek, the trail was pretty much nothing, so I was in the woods, climbing over small hills and getting scratched by bushes and branches while making my way back to the main trail.

Still, it was awesome. I found a ruined old bridge, got a good work out and now I feel all kick ass. Nature is pretty cool, even if riddled with man made trails everywhere, abandoned or not.

I still like Winter better though.

^^^^^ ♥♥ :) Wonderful!!

@Symbeline – your walk sounds pretty cool. For me, nature walks are more like this ..so I’m glad you fared better.

I’ve been traveling a lot lately for work..so being at home today (and for a few days..next trip is Monday) is making me feel really grateful/happy…‘cause, y’know there’s no place like home.

My plants are FINALLY outside! They’re so happy. :)

@geeky_mama LOL aaw.

But dude, you drew that? That kicks ass, I want one lol. :)

I’ve been hiking every day since I got home. I’m going to be doing work for a national park later in the summer for my college junior project, so I’m trying to make sure I’m in tip top shape before that so I don’t get left in the dust by my more athletic group partners!

The hikes have been wonderful. Yesterday I heard a hooded warbler, which is a bird I love but have never seen. I didn’t realize what it was until afterwards when I looked up the call, and that was infuriating! So I went back today. I heard him again, and I’m telling you I chased him for 45 minutes and still didn’t catch a glimpse! But in the chase, I got to add scarlet tanager and rose-breasted grosbeak to my life list. What a thrill!

School’s Out for Summer!!

And I picked wild lilacs on my way home.

My mom bought a lottery ticket today! So when she wins she is going to buy me this in manual which is .3 of a second slower than the automatic, but at the end of the day it blasts slightly higher numbers =O

Then I will have to blare this on the Bang and Olufsen sound system :)

If my mom wins the lottery I will seriously need to invest in the adult diaper business, I might pee myself while driving sometimes.

I would be so freaking excited! Like wouldn’t you just have to touch the gas pedal slightly and you are doing like 50km? Cuz really it only takes 3.9 seconds to get to 100km, so is this normal foot to gas pressure or pedal to medal pressure?

I WANT TO KNOW!! lol

Is your mom in the market for adopting a kid @nofurbelowsbatgirl?

@Dutchess_III Depends on how much the “kid(s)” lurves me. :p I’ll be happy to give out free rides, diapers are required. :)

Today I learned that Obama is visiting Berlin, Germany, in June.

I was having dreams of dreaming within my dreams this morning and I am not sure whether I actually woke up, looked at the clock and went back to sleep for thirty minutes or whether I dreampt that I was dreaming that I did. When I woke up I woke up confused but at least I am awake now.
At least I think I am.

@rojo Sooo, you’re experiencing a psychotic break with reality, well..that’s great! lolol ;-)

Today we are finally going to have a little better Internet at our off grid mountain paradise. The E on the iPhone is painfully slow. Since fluther doesn’t have a lot of pictures it works a little faster but don’t even try to watch a YouTube video!
The sattelite guy comes today. Still slow I’m sure but much faster than this.

My husband will be home again tonight, so maybe I’ll finally get some sleep!

Wait…don’t you have that backward @WillWorkForChocolate?

Got two pot roasts seared and in the crock pot. Lotsa onions too.

Saw the hooded warbler today. :D

Potatoes carrots and tomatoes.

Gorgeous day for first day of summer vacation. Bought four magnificent fuschia baskets for my front porch and trimmed the boxwoods.

@Dutchess_III Nope. I can’t sleep when he’s gone, so I’ve had two grueling days of babysitting my 2 month old nephew on almost zero sleep. But tonight? Sweeeeet rest, finally!

Not much today but we have a busy weekend.
Tomorrow, I get to see my niece who’s turning 7 years old. I haven’t seen her in like six months. Can’t wait!
On Sunday, we are driving up to my mom’s house for her 55th birthday and Mother’s Day. I haven’t seen her in a couple months. My nephew, who’s turning 3 years old in a month, is staying there right now. So we’ll get to see him as well. Haven’t seen him in about 7 months.
Looking forward to the weekend, even if it’s outside my comfort zone.

Helped my good friend set up tables for her sons wedding eve dinner in the park today in a beautiful gazebo.
Of course there were glitches, haha, like the balloons being a tangled mess after transporting and other helpers showing up late.
The colors are Teal and Black and we set some stunning tables and best of all…..just guess you guys! lol
There were Canadian Geese goslings all around the lake and I got to run to my car and bring them a big container of cracked corn.

Coloma and her traveling feed store. lol
A fun day!

My novel is 46K words today. The scene I just wrote would look awesome in an action movie. Hey, a girl can dream, right?

I attended a seminar on predatory chase behaviour in dogs today. The lecturer, David Ryan, is a behavourist/trainer that I have a great deal if respect for. I got a certificate too :)

I gave my mom a new purse for Mother’s Day, and she loves it :)

My husband brought home corn on the cob and jalapeno peppers for to make poppers with.

My employer gave me a fat little mothers day cash gift and I went for a massage. The full monty, hot stones, reflexology time and bliss out to the 10th power. Then I took my goosie friends at the park a huge watermelon on this 92 degree day. I split it open by bashing the bag on the ground and they a all ( 6 of them, 2 chinese, an Embden and 3 Toulouse ) had a cool watermelon treat on the lush lawns of the park.

I sat with my newly adopted “Darleen” on the park bench and he layed on my lap, facing me with his flappy feet dangling and I played it forward and gave him a fowl leg massage. haha He now knows the sound of my car and I get quite the greeting for she who comes out of nowhere with corn and watermelon.
Now, just finished making a yummy salad and waiting on my daughter to drop over for a mothers day moment.
A very nice day for Coloma the displaced.
Happy mothers day to all the moms! :-)

It is a BEAUTIFUL day!

My best friend and her three month old, who had been in a horrific car wreck on Monday, were discharged from the hospital today! And my daughter’s friend who, in a freak accident last weekend, had her ankle and spine fractured, was finally walking a little bit today! Another friend of mine came over for a lunch and movie date and brought me some hilarious hobbit feet houseshoes, and my hubby and kids gave me gift cards for a fabulous dinner out and a one hour massage. Awesome birthday!

^^^Can’t top that! So very glad, @WillWorkForChocolate.

But, I’ll try. It just so happened that I had a Dr. appt at 2:30 and my daughter had an appt with the same Dr. at 3:00. So she and I, and her 4 kids, ages 9, 7 and twins, 4 months old, found all of ourselves in the waiting room together. People were making room. :) She went in first (Whaaaa? I was 2:30, she was 3:00…anyway) they somehow put us in side-by side rooms. I had a LOT of downtime there so I was shuffling between the rooms, helping out with the twins and generally keeping everyone on track and entertained, especially when they took my daughter completely out of her room, leaving the 4 kids there alone (the older two knew they could handle it for 5 minutes… because gramma was right next door. No…wait. She’s right HERE! ;) Small towns rock!

@Dutchess_III That is awesome! Small towns do rock!

Yesterday I hit the 3 month mark for quitting smoking :)

Got a kick ass gift from a friend today, who’s also a squishy here. :) Well he doesn’t participate much, but he’s a squishy anyway!
He got me the entire White Zombie and Rob Zombie music collection, plus a video game, Assassin’s Creed III. Plus a cool card that smells nice. he put some of his cologne on it

Also an inflatable package protector that jumped out at me when I opened the box. XD

Thanks to ONLY138 for totally making my day. :D

^^^ That is so sweet. :-)

Walked across the Brooklyn Bridge on a date yesterday and was taken to a jazz club to hear a famous bassist. We were sitting next to an Italian couple, a British young man and a Japanese man. Then walked up from the Village back to my train. Lots of fun.

HEH! Well, it’s the tale of two cell phones….. :) One was evil, one was not. The good prevailed in a most spectacular way!

That’s cool, @janbb. Dreamy times. So wonderful.

Today… Someone I’ve never spoken to in my life called me a slut. I told him “Yeah, I have herpes so bad it’s airborne at this point. You should probably leave the room, so you don’t catch that shit.”
He left.
I thought that was adorable.

^^^ LOL very good!
I told someone yesterday that couldn’t find the garden clippers that I had to confess, it was me that took them, I am a clip-to-maniac. haha

Planted my garden today…wiped out but looking forward to the bountiful mid-summer harvest!

Had a great time a few times this week sitting by the lake near my house and sketching. I find it to be a great way to get into a peaceful, meditative state.

@Coloma I told my very first lie over a pair of garden clippers. I was 5. We lived in Florida. I had taken them out to do who-knows-what, and left them in the yard. Mom said, “Who left the clippers in the yard?”
“Not me,” I said.
Mom said, “OK, and went back to cooking or whatever she was doing. I was sitting on the counter and I just BURST into tears.. Mom said, “What is wrong?”
“I LIED!” I cried. ”I left them in the yard!”
She gathered me up and held me and said, “Always tell the truth Valerie. It’s always best to tell the truth.” I sobbed and sobbed. And never told another lie again until I was 8. At which time I lied about not robbing the Shoppeze.

I just got off work! That always kicks many a posterior.

My boyfriend finally snapped out of his bad mood!

Wore shorts for the first time this season!

Jay and I led a great 4½ mile walk for the walking group. Supper was a hot fudge sundae at my favorite summer ice cream place.

My oldest (@Fly) is home from college for the summer. So happy to have all the girls here this weekend!

Some teenager played a prank on my daughter and I in the Walmart parking lot. Lmao!

Kid asks: “Excuse me, do you happen to have the time?”

I look at my daughter 7“What time is it?”*

All we hear is CLOMP, CLOMP, CLOMP as we have that “WTF” look and look towards the noise to see the vision of this kid running away as fast and as goofy as he can towards his other friend who was seriously LOL!

Ok! I looked at my daughter and LOL!

I felt like it was a prank for Ellen or youtube.

Seriously! I’ve been punked by a Walmart prank lmfao.

Had my hair done. That always feels nice.

We are taking a new dog for a one week “test drive.” Since we unfortunately had to unadopt the sweet German Shepherd for allergy and baby chewing problems, the humane society promised to help us find another dog. This one is a poodle mix, which I know my daughter won’t be allergic to, and his foster mom tested him around her grand babies.

From the look of his face, he may actually be a cockapoo; he is so stinkin’ adorable! He’s already been snuggling with my hubby, and he’s chillin’ at my feet right now. So far, so good.

@nofurbelowsbatgirl I’ve been trying to work out what the prank actually was. Kid asks you the time and then runs away?! I don’t get it!

7:45 a.m. in sunny, breezy, California. A beeeee-u-teee-ful morning and I just came in from watering my garden. I am happy to have a garden space at my new digs and it is a pretty little spot. It is a large triangle shape, about 8×15 fenced, with a gate and backs up to a hill overhung with pine trees and Oaks. I have planted squash, 2 varieties, 3 tomatoes, 2 lemon cucumbers and yesterday I planted about 500 flowers seeds.

2 types of Cosmos, morning glories, nasturseums, ( sp?) marigolds, 4 0’ clocks, red sunflowers and others. Now I wait for the seeds to sprout and determine room for other filler things.
A great morning in the California hills. :-)

@Coloma Great to hear you so happy and settling in so well. Go you!

I GOT THE BARRISTER BOOKCASE I WANTED AT AUCTION!!!!

I think I just finished the first draft of my novel. Whoa.

@Mariah Congratulations!!

Had another great massage at my new fav. massage place. Oh man….bliss out to the 10th power. Heh…I WILL start saving money again, soon. haha

@Mariah That is so exciting!

@RandomGirl @augustlan Thank you! I’m excited and sad. I don’t know what comes next. This is not something I started with publication in mind and I have no idea if it’s anywhere near good enough, but I kind of wonder if I should go for it and see what happens.

Have you edited it and proofread it? That’s next I would think. What about sending it to some people who will give you honest and critical feedback. People who will say ‘oh that’s so wonderful Mariah’ won’t really help at this point. You want people who tell you where and how you can improve your work.

Then, why not submit it to a publisher. What do you have to lose?

Finished all of my core classes. Need ½ of an elective credit, and I am officially graduated :)
Working on getting scholarships. Yay! :)

Yay! @AshLeigh well done you. What a wonderful feeling. :-) Congratulations.

@AshLeigh Fuckin rights bro! :)

I woke up, grateful for my children and grandchildren and nieces.

@Bellatrix I guess editing does come next, although I’m not sure I’m gonna go through all that tedious stuff if I’m just going to end up sitting on it, you know? I don’t know who to go to for feedback either. I’ve been posting it online as I’ve gone along but haven’t gotten a whole lot of feedback. Gotta figure all this out. Thanks!

Well there are a couple of people I could think of here. You can but ask… You’ve spent a long time getting the story down, it would seem worth polishing. I think you learn so much about your writing from going through the process of editing and getting feedback. I hope you figure it out anyway :-) Just finishing such a long piece of writing is an achievement.

I’m alive, my husband is alive, my children are alive, we have a home and car, and food in the fridge. After the devastation and death in Oklahoma yesterday, that’s a pretty damn good thing to happen to us today. With storms on the way here, and a tornado watch until 7 tonight, hopefully our status will be the same tomorrow.

@WillWorkForChocolate I am praying for you and your family again xo O:-)

Thanks, much appreciated! Just so it’s clear, I live in Texas, not Oklahoma, but we’re under watch all day. I think I unintentionally made my previous comment sound like I live in OK… I really don’t know where my head has been lately; I even confused my daughter’s teacher because my reply to her email was unclear. Ugh.

I love the animals and birds that traverse my path in the woods that runs by my house. I saw a deer a few nights ago, and a raccoon came trundling by yesterday, and I had a cardinal drop in.

@marinelife What a great move that was for you!

Had the first four-way meeting in my divorce process today and while I was anxious beforehand, it went quite well. I think things will work out amicably enough and I will be in a good position financially. I feel relieved and strong!

@WillWorkForChocolate

Man…the devastation is unreal, so sad for everyone.
Better have your shovel on standby in case the snakes get blown into your yard. haha
Be safe my friend! :-)

Lots and lots. :) Details to follow. Although the Moore, Oklahoma devastation is still hitting.

9:10 in California, a beautiful twilight going on and I am off to bed to get a GREAT nights sleep, a full 9 hours coming up. Yes! Lights out in fluthertown for me now. Sweet dreams jellies. :-)

Good news: I’ve been working my tail off!
Bad news: Haven’t had as much time for Fluther. This thread is always a bright spot in my day. :)

@Mariah I’ve got three teenagers who will be dying for something to read this summer. Feel free to send your novel our way, and we’ll be happy to be test readers for you!

@augustlan The new position is going well then?

Last day of school. :D :(

@marinelife So far, so good!

I’m getting all kinds of educated about circumcision….25 years after the fact!

You guys! The cats going to be away a lot more! PARRRR—TAYYYYY!!

I am beginning a four-day weekend today. Started off with going out to breakfast!

Going mudding :D

I got a job offer today.

One of three blood tests done for Lyme’s Disease came back positive today. While this might not mean I actually have it, it’s definitely a good sign after nearly 8 months of dealing with these exhausting symptoms. My quest for an answer might be over soon! I’m trying to not get my hopes up, but I’m on antibiotics now, and I should see improvement in 3–5 days if it’s the correct diagnosis. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I’m very thankful for the role Fluther has played in my life over the last 8 months. Thank you, jellies!!

I have nothing to do this afternoon which is a nice feeling AND in one weeks time I will be going to see Barbra Streisand in concert. I’m so excited!

Our dog is doing really well, post-surgery!

Well the great part didn’t happen today, because he left today, but my boyfriend just paid me a five day long visit. Was very nice to have him, we’re trying to spend some time together this summer since he’ll be studying abroad during the first quarter of next year.

Today we went on a beautiful hike, saw a couple of deer, and when we emerged from the trail we saw a PARROT! Now this is Pennsylvania so it has to have been somebody’s escaped pet. We rang the doorbell of the closest house but nobody answered. I took some pictures and posted them to a local humane society’s facebook page along with the location of the siting hoping the owner might see. I don’t know if I should have done anything more, but I hope it got found.

After my guy left I finished up a drawing I was working on, it’s actually an ad hoc cover to my novel; the thought never would have crossed my mind if not for the fact that a website I found for getting feedback on writing suggests also uploading a cover picture. I have grown to like my heroine after writing her for so long, so it was fun to draw her the way I see her in my mind.

Just had a great going away party for my daughter and her family who are moving to Scotland. Six of my grand kids were here along with many of their friends and they were all perfectly behaved. Renewed my belief in miracles although the water slide bounce house made them happy too.

It’s Sunday and I just had a beautiful piece of cake and a cup of coffee at a cafe in the city. Bit of people watching and then home again.

We spontaneously purchased a trampoline last night, and the kids are having a blast on it now!

I was working at a dog show today (in the glorious sunshine, which is a rare treat for England!!!) and a friend of mine brought her Skye Terrier to visit me. I love this dog as if she were my own but unfortunately I do not get to see her as much as I would like so I was so happy to be able to spend plenty of time with her (in between working). It really made my day!

Had a great barbecue today and feeling more and more comfortable in my single skin!

Yes. “The Rise of The Jellyfish” is on The Animal Planet! :D

@nofurbelowsbatgirl Probably better than the moronic Mermaid show. lol
Yeah, we were once sea apes. Pffft!

I took a drive up the mountain to the famous “Apple Hill” in my zone, thousands of acres of orchards and vineyards and wineries and bought blackberry tarts and an huge, gooey and decadent caramel apple today.
OMG! The tarts were amazing!
The not so great is I am obligated to attend a dinner tomorrow with people I don’t really like much. haha
Oh well…wtf, one out of two ain’t bad I suppose. :-p

Because Memorial Day here was dreary and gray weather – it was perfect for indoor projects. I finally got around to clearing out the many tubs of clothing that have been living in our basement. Anything that didn’t fit, hasn’t been worn in at least a year or two or that the kids have outgrown got boxed up and went to Goodwill this afternoon.

I’m a bit embarrassed to admit it ended up FILLING the minivan with seats out—it was 10 of the large outdoor garbage bags (34 gallon sized huge bags) and a couple of boxes, too. It feels good to have cleared out the basement..and hopefully the clothes and shoes will be of good use to someone else.

@geeky_mama , probably to late now, but do they have a Little Feet Repeats in you area?

@Judi – we have “Once Upon a Child” – -which is similar. We just prefer to give it all away to Goodwill.. and we buy a lot of our clothes from Goodwill, too.. so it feels sort of like I just rented some clothes. ;)

I received some very positive feedback for some work I am doing and was told I am exceeding my employers expectations and they couldn’t have asked for someone better, especially going with the very first person they responded to. Nice to hear even if I do feel I am in over my head. They don’t know that of course. lol

Barbra Streisand is now in the UK and rehearsals for the concerts started today. I’m so excited I think I might pop!

Today is my parents’ twentieth anniversary!

My little garden is growing, growing, growing, more seeds springeth up and it is the one thing that brings me happiness right now during this trying period of uncertainty. I also planted more sunflowers and various other flower seeds today. :-)

It’s 80 freaking degrees. In ALASKA. I think I got a tan.
This is insane, because here in Alaska, we don’t tan. We thaw.

Jelliessss! Today I had a checkup with the surgeon who changed my life for the better two years ago. He couldn’t find any sign of a fistula, which is a post-surgical complication I have been struggling with and worrying about for the past 1.5 year. I think my health saga may finally be truly over. Knock on wood!

Submitted a paper today. 1 year, 2 weeks, 2 days in the making. Now we wait for reviews.

Nice feeling @nikipedia. I hope the wait is not too long.

@Mariah and @nikipedia: Yippee!!! I know both feelings (although in less intense situations). Yippeee!

It’s 3AM. I can’t sleep! The great part is that it’s because I’m all excited over a project I’ve got in the works.

I’m going to see Barbra Streisand in concert again tonight!

Again? AGAIN? How many tickets did you buy? :D Hope you have fun @Leanne1986.

So, it was a right old family affair down at the O2 arena, her son & sister joining her on stage ;-}

I just got up so I’m going back in time to yesterday. My husband and I were sitting on the deck. I sad, “Are we just going to hang around the house again all day?”
He said, “Well, what do you want to do?”
I said, “Go fishing.”
His eyebrows went up at that because I don’t fish around these parts. I hate catfish!
I said, “Well, I’ll read while you fish. At the lake.”
We used to do it all the time, but haven’t in a long, long, ling time.
It was wonderful. I got halfway through a John Grisham book too.

The excavator is here today. Construction of my Yoga Room has finally started!!

Settled in for a night of reading.

@Bellatrix She did two concerts over here so I went to both! I’m feeling very sad today that it is all over but I loved every single second!

@ucme Yes, they’re a talented family. Her sister has a massive voice. Apparently Prince Charles was there last night as well as Adele and Jennifer Lopez but I don’t think they were sat in the cheap seats (I say cheap, I mean cheaper because I still had to take out a mortgage for my seats!!!) with us.

Good god yeah, I went there last november for the tennis @Leanne1986 & well, my wallet’s still weeping :(
I have to confess to cheating though, I looked at her tour website & saw pics/details there, only because of you though, thought i’d appear all clever & stuff ;-}

@ucme I know you love her really, no need to make excuses to look at her website!!!

Well…my day is not going so great, but…it’s still early.
Started off by pouring orange juice on my cereal. Bah! Is this an omen of things to come? lol

Ha, I did love her in that one film What’s Up Doc, I think we spoke about that once.
Not only is it a brilliantly funny movie, but wow…she was hot stuff back then.

@ucme We did speak about it. You have good taste sir! My brother (for all his “I don’t like Barbra Streisand”) loves What’s Up Doc. You might like The Owl and The Pussycat. She plays a hooker and is very attractive in that too. Her costume is interesting as well, I think you’ll appreciate it!

I’m on it! heads straight to youtube
Wowsers, where’s me trousers!?! Love the “hands on” approach, she was sooooo fit, what a tight bod…ahem, yeah, cheers for that :)

I got Judi’s forms and I think she’s going to like what I’ve done for her. :)

I learned about ’‘conger eels’’ today. I saw this earlier this morning. It’s always cool when some mysterious creature is sighted or found, then everyone goes apeshit and wonders what it is. And I’m no different, I like trying to figure out what stuff is, so these kinds of things are always right up my alley. But apparently, this one was identified as a conger eel.
So not only did I have a good time at work thinking about this and talking to people about it, but for once I learned what it actually was. apparently, being the key word

And I don’t know why, but looking up images, I think they look so cute. Look at this little bugger! He’s all like, sup bro.

Yeah, I guess not much happens to me. But this was the highlight of my day, and I stand by that. :D

@mangeons graduated yesterday! That’s me and Mr. Augustlan with her. :)

Congratulations @mangeons! And Congrats to Auggie & Mr. Auggie – what an amazing milestone and what a beautiful and hard-working scholar you’ve raised!

Congratulations to @mangeons and the proud parental units!

I finally worked up the stones to actually tell my best friend that I had written a novel and send it to her to read. She is so excited, and I am too!

Having a great time in Paris with my grandson and his folks.

I am jealous.

@Dutchess_III But you get to see yours all the time.

That’s true. Well, I could ship them to Paris, maybe, and then move there myself to be close to them?

I think I found the solution to my old, mounted slide problems. Yay.

I’ve got the house all to myself, on a Friday night! How the hell did that happen?

^Now you can run naked through the house and watch anything you want on TV.

Ya, Make pancakes and stuff. Go WILD!

Meh, I’m boring. I’m having fun wearing my oversized, fleece jammie pants and eating the most amazing soup in the galaxy. I may, just may, go completely nuts, and eat a piece of chocolate while reading a book. Without being interrupted!!!

Mom! Mom! Mom! Mom! Mooom! Mom! Mom! WE WANT YOU ON FLUTHER! Mom! MOM! MOM!! MOOOOOMMMMM! Mom! Is chocolate more important than we are?? MOM!.... MOM? mom? mom? WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!

…dude.

Record heat wave here….103–107. Been kicking a$$ around my digs and watering my garden and am now hunkered down in the AC til much later. A great cool afternoon for hiding out in the indoor breezes. I have ice cream and happy brownies too. lol

Could be worse @Coloma . I’m stuck in Bakersfield!

@Judi Oh my…I am SO sorry. haha

Or @Judi, and @Coloma…you could be in Minnesota where we have been having gray, rainy Seattle-esque weather with highs only in the lower 60s each day for weeks. No summer here.. just mold, mushrooms and damp crabby people. Please send your hot weather our way!!

@geeky_mama , you really don’t want us to brown up all your green.

I found the creepiest little hatchet the other day :D
Today, I walked around the house with it, singing “Lizzie Borden took an axe. Have her father fourth wacks. When she say what she had done, she gave her mother fourty-one.”
My mother was not amused. :D

^^^ LOL Well chop up this heat wave weekend over this way!

Going for the ice cream soon

I slept in until 9.15 this morning which I haven’t been able to do in months and I feel so refreshed!

Went to see The Great Gatsby with my husband. Bought a couple of new suitcases for our trip and some recording equipment I wanted. It was a nice day.

Went to a non vegan wedding yesterday, and I have been to many before I was also a meat eater at one time, anyway this time is a first that this ever happened, I had about 2 vegetables on my plate and the server comes up to me and says “is that all you’ll be eating, you don’t want any meat from the hot menu?” I said “No thank you I’m a vegan, I will be ok with this.”
So I go sit down at my table and the lady comes back after about 5 minutes with a vegetable lasagne and says “compliments of the kitchen, vegan lasagna miss.” O:-)
It was so nice of them.

My husband was just promoted to supervisor at the company he’s worked at for only 2 years. He got a nice bump in pay too, with more in the future once he learns the ropes. We are celebrating this evening!

^Woo hoo party at the blonds house! So happy for you guys!

@jonsblond So glad something nice has happened for your family!!

agreed @janbb . It’s time their luck turned the corner!

Thank you ladies! We just realized his raise alone pays our rent. woohoo! We are long overdue for some good news for our family. :)

Congrats, @jonsblond! Such wonderful news!

Found out my mother and I are probably moving sometime by August.
Goodbye crappy trailer!
Goodbye sketchy neighborhood, and creepy neighbors! :)

That’s good to hear @AshLeigh! Have you found a new home yet or are you still looking?

We’re still looking. Trying to stay in the area. We’re just ready to ditch this crummy neighborhood. I’m excited :)

Moving can be fun. I really enjoyed our last move. I hope you have luck finding something!

Thank you! :)

Man, it’s going to be BEAUTIFUL today! We flirted with 100% the last two days, but only supposed to be 88 today.

@Dutchess_III Same here after last weekend of 106 on Saturday we have now gotten back into the flow and are staying in the mid 80’s for the next few weeks according to the long range forecast. Thank the powers that be, other than the garden taking off like a weed I hate extreme heat. Bleh!
1:30 p.m. here now and a lovely 85 degrees! :-)

:) My daughter had a wood and glass hutch that she’d picked up from the side of the road a couple of years ago. She likes it (it needs work) but she has no room, so she tried to sell it at a garage sale. It didn’t sell, so it, and a large, pretty nice area run of mine, have been out on the curb since last Saturday. Today a couple knocked on the door, asked if it was free. When I said Yes, the lady’s eyes just lit up. I thought she was going to cry. Turns out they came here two months ago from Portland Oregon, via Greyhound bus. They arrived with the clothes on their back and $7.00. They had nothing.
They secured a place to live and have started to collect this and that to help rebuild their lives. THIS was a good day! In fact, I went in search of other things to give them….I gave them an antique oak dresser that I really like but have no room for, and some table clothes.

@Dutchess_III That’s beautiful.

A friend is taking me to our county fair this afternoon. Neither of us has been in over 10 years since our kids were still young teens. Oh boy…corn dogs and fried zucchini. A fair junk food fest! lol

Two deer just walked past my living room window. Made the dogs go crazy, but made me happy.

Negative pregnancy test but no period yet, so I’m still holding out a little hope for a little one next year.

Today I got to add the wood thrush to my bird list. I lured it out of the brush by playing a recording of its call to it!

The “break” part of my summer is coming to a close. Tomorrow I leave for a national park where I’ll be working for school credit for the next two months. It’s going to be a whole lot of fun, I can’t wait!!

Spending a lovely long weekend with my girls. We started shopping for @mangeons’ dorm room, and it was fun to start seeing how it’s going to shape up.

I was at a barbecue yesterday and two friend asked me if I had had any work done on my face because I looked so great!

@janbb THAT must be what my husband means when he says, “What happened to your face?!”

Cooking jalapeno poppers today! I am so excited!

Hubby got a play station 3 for Father’s Day. He’s the coolest 63 year old I know.

Met up with my boyfriend for his lunch break. Meeting a friend for coffee in a few minutes, then going to my boyfriends house after he gets off work. :)
Also, it’s 80 degrees.

Went to a kick ass bbq today. A friend invited me to her family gathering, I barely knew anyone there, but it was great.

Truth is, it rained all day, and basically, the whole bbq was ruined. Technically. We just stayed indoors, and the people who owned the house made a fire in the fireplace. It was actually real cold out, still is. But the two bbq’s were still being worked outside. It was odd but fun, kind of like having a camp out. But like, indoors. Lol. I pigged out on ribs, hamburgers, hot dogs. And not wussy hot dogs, but ones with these huge ass sausages as thick as your arm. Drank beer, drank wine, got totally stuffed.
Some dude was there, he was like 82 years old I think. He’s from America, he and his wife are traveling around, and the wife has a sister who lives in Québec who was invited to the bbq. But he doesn’t speak a word of French, and since I was one of the only ones there who speaks English besides his wife obviously, I went to hang out with him for a while. Turns out the guy also speaks German, and gave me some mini lessons. Had a great time today haha.

I never get invited to anything and spend all my weekends in the utmost solitude, so now I’m all happy. Lol.

Well I finalised all the plagiarism issues on my desk…and cleared a pile of admin work that’s been glaring at me from the corner… that’s a big bonus. Less ‘have you done’ emails. I also wrote a survey I’ve been trying to get to. Now I’m going to drive home.

Cutting the ties that bind.

Well, I went to the dentist and had a filling. While that was happening I watched Elephant Porn and then Turtle Horror. Otherwise known as David Attenborough’s Africa.

My mouth is feeling less numb now the aesthetic is wearing off. I’ve also nearly finished my ethics clearance documentation – Yay!

Other than that – all quiet on the Eastern side of Australia.

After 2 hours on the phone with United Airlines, I finally got my tickets to London booked. My son in law and his children are using miles my MIL donated and I bought my ticket. We had to get the itineraries connected and it was a huge mess. (And that’s the short version. )
But finally, Success! My grand kids will be with their mom soon!!

My daughter started playing minor league softball this year. It’s her first year playing and she really enjoys the game. Her season is almost over and her team is at the bottom. They’ve only won one game this season and there is just one game left, not including the tournament that starts this Saturday. Her team almost won tonight, but even though they didn’t, she walked off the field with a huge smile on her face. Made my day.

My squash is blooming! Nuff said! Oooh…can’t wait for the squash and pepper stir fry days ahead. :-)

Check out Marwyns great new photo from his new mother goose to me tonight.
Ya gotta read the caption by clicking on my avatar. lol

^Sweet!

I’m not sure if this fits here… but it’s great that my family and friends are safe from the massive flooding in my city (and province). So far, every one is safe and dry. Tons of evacuations, basements flooded and minor car accidents but it could be much worse.

Stay safe, @Plucky!

My son was out for a walk with his 5 year old son and 16 month old daughter and they stopped by. It’s always such a joy seeing them! They had frozen water in a water bottle the night before and were drinking it. Chris asked Jaden “What is the melting point of water.”
Jaden said, “32 degrees.”
The other day he was working in his yard and found a colony of rolly polys. He said, “Jaden! Come look at this ecosystem I found!”
He’s so funny!

I booked my flights to America for a few months time! Woohoo!

@Leanne1986 Will you be near Washington DC? I would love to meet you, a fellow dog lover.

@marinelife Well, it’s not in the basic plan we have, at the moment the closest we will be is Brooklyn, New York. However, apart from the flights in and out of the country none of our plans are set in stone so I will definitely keep you informed if we end up any closer. It would be lovely to meet a jelly for the first time :)

If you do get to the DC area, count me in!

Meet-up at the Penguin’s house in NJ!

Totally down for that.

Me too!

That would be awesome!

My interview list for my trip is coming together and I am now so excited. I have some fascinating people to speak to and I’m so looking forward to learning from them. I’m getting very excited now!

A wonderful summer rainstorm here, quite the downpour today and then, back to 90’s by the weekend. My garden is going to go nuts this week! :-)

I was paid today, thank goodness!

I got new tires on my car and my alignment is perfect. Yay!
Man, I was glued to the road with my new radials. Huggin’ the road. yeah! :-D

I was a plumber today. Helped hubby lay 300 feet of sewer line.

I hope you kept your crack covered @Judi

I’m improving a lot with CS stuff this summer. Good thing, considering it’s my major and all. >_> I swear I’m almost learning more through independent projects than I do through my classes…CS is a weird subject to learn via lectures.

Someone on the site where I’ve posted my novel has nominated it for “staff pick” which would get me a lot of publicity if it gets chosen. I’ve got my fingers crossed because I would really like more feedback. My best friend recently read it and gave me some awesome feedback, so I’ve been making some edits in what little spare time I have.

I’m still loving my time living in a national park but the weather has been a washout lately and has prevented us from getting anything done, which is a shame. Can’t wait for it to clear up.

Road trip!

Starting a four-day weekend with my honey. Can’t wait!

After having several godawful, fussy baby days with my nephew (yesterday was a horrendous nightmare), I think I’m finally cured of my desperate baby pangs. This is actually good, because I was the only one who thought having another baby was a good idea, lol. My husband is quite happy about this!

^^^ LOL

Hotter than hell here, but…..picked my daughter up this afternoon and we drove about 30 miles up the mountain to the little town of Kyburz CA. about 45 minutes from Lake Tahoe and found a beautiful little creek off the river and had snacks and waded in this pristine Sierra stream with little trout leaping all around us.
We carried on in the car, sharing all of our current stuff and the thunderheads over the Sierras were breathtaking!
Now I am about to rip off all my clothes, grab a cold beer and go out and water my prolific little garden zone.

A great day!

Had a lovely time at a Greek festival with my friend Karin.

Got a ways to go but getting more and more centered in my own self.

Started the day with a walk by the stream, saw a mimosa tree blooming and a male cardinal.Then came home and had a great breakfast of husband eggs (scrambled eggs with onion, mushrooms and cheese), bacon and toast and coffee while listening to “Wait,Wait Don’t Tell Me” on NPR..

We put in an air conditioner today! And then spent the day at the beach.

I am making fast friends with two of the guys living here with me at my project. The three of us took a beautiful, foggy evening hike up a small mountain today…might be one of my new favorite memories. I so adore learning about and forming bonds with new people…one of life’s best feelings.

Getting ready to go to @Fly’s birthday party.

Getting to understand things more and more – is that a wonderful thing or not, one wonders?

Road trip, again!

GUYS GUYS GUYS I just got this email:

Hi Indigo,

I’m delighted to let you know that your story, “The Divergence – Chapter 1” has just been added to our Staff Picks section and is currently being featured on the ReadWave homepage. Congratulations!

Please make sure that you’re happy with the story, and that you’ve uploaded a good picture to go along with it. You can edit your project by going to the story page, and clicking “edit story”.

Don’t forget to tell your friends that your story is being featured on the Readwave homepage!

We can’t wait to read more of your stories!

Cheers,
Rob

And now the first chapter of my novel is literally the first thing you see when you go to their website. AH I am so excited right now.

In other news, sorry I haven’t been around much, a little busy having the best two months of my life. Only three weeks left here, never want it to end, but so happy that it’s happening to me.

@Mariah Yay! Yay! and more Yay! That’s stupendous!

As for me, I am getting stronger and stronger in myself and less and less concerned about outside drama, i.e. guys. Had a great evening last night on my own; walking, eating ice cream and going to a movie. I do miss my Ex and my kids still though.

Going up the mountain! It looks like the Shire in the summer. So pretty :)

Had a great day yesterday. Met with friends for a music gig at a local art gallery and then BBQ’d salmon and ribs for dinner. Mmm good!

p.s. Congrats to @Mariah !!!

Travelled up to John O’Groats today before ending up back at Loch Ness My most favouritist place in the whole world where I will be spending the night. Sadly back to England tomorrow after a wonderful Highland holiday but it’s made less bitter by the fact that I will be back here in August.

@Leanne1986 , I just got back from leaving my heart (my grandchildren) in Stirling. Only got a few days that I wasn’t jet lagged but it was beautiful. I will miss my babies though as I will probably only see them once a fear for a while. :-(

Year not fear and to late to edit. UGH>

@Judi My heart aches whenever I leave Scotland and I’m not even leaving family so I can only imagine how you feel.

@Judi I know how you feel with one in Paris and another on the way there.

May be meeting up with a certain classy West Coast Jelly on Friday!

Ooooh. Nice @janbb. Hope you both have fun.

Did you know there is an occupation called penguinologist. This is a YouTube video about penguinologist, Tom Hart.

My husband finally told his sister she has to get her project truck out of our garage! Hot damn!

Got to see my uncle today for the first time in over a year! Hemet my boyfriend, ad they got along great! :)

@Bellatrix Is a penguinologist similar to a proctologist?? Ouch – that smarts!

Oh I hope not. If you feel anyone playing with your penguin butt, you went to the wrong doctor! I think he’s more of a sociologist for penguins…

So maybe that wasn’t he who poked me?

Umm, I think not. That may have been one of those adelie penguins. You really shouldn’t turn your back on one of those.

Ooh – those Adelies. Gotta watch out for them!

My garden is going nuts, doing great!
I thought I should write a little poem about my cucumber. lol

The first of the cucumbers,
basking on their vines,
biding their time

gaining length and girth for
my salad of mirth. lol

Gaining length and girth? Exactly what are you panning to do with those cucumbers, @Coloma?

^^^ Fruit of my loins. lololol
Yes, I have had to joke about the lenght and girth of my cucumbers lately, irresistible. haha

@marinelife if they’re gaining length and girth, she may already have been doing things to them!

Grow my little darlings, let me fondle you fondly. It’s all about stroking vibes ya know. lol

Bought Warm Bodies! :)
Found a dress to wear to the wedding next week.
Spending time with my mom and my uncle :)

I had lunch with Jeruba and it was great!

And I had lunch with @janbb. My first live jelly! We had such a nice time, a very comfortable and easy visit. I feel very lucky,

Except that the paparazzi were very annoying!

I feel like I should get a notch in my tail feathers for every Jelly I meet.

Congrats you two! How fun!

I was approved for unemployment benefits. It states that they determined I was released due to lack of work, not because of any misconduct. I feel somewhat vindicated.

After months of wondering if my mother would ever improve after her ruptured brain aneurysm, she’s finally made some progress. She’s been in ICU since Friday with a drain to remove fluid from her brain and a shunt was put in this morning. She was asked her name and she said it very clearly! She has said very little in the past two months. She also raised her arms when asked, wiggled her toes and tried to press buttons on her hospital bed. She has come close to death many times since March, but she hung in there and now we finally have hope.

@Dutchess_III and @jonsblond Such good news from both of you! I’m so glad to hear it. :)

A man is coming over to make an offer on our property today. If this goes well, we should be moving sometime next month!

I stood up to someone who has been pressuring me EVERY DAY for the last 6 days running to do something I do not want to do!
It was GREAT….after numerous diplomatic refusals and explanations, I nipped it in the bud, I am hoping anyway, by very firmly telling them that I do not want them to bring this up AGAIN! Gah!
They responded with ” Well, that is your prerogative.”

REALLY! Ya think, then WHY have you kept asking me, repeatedly for the last 6 days?
Of course, now they are pouting. Oh well! lol

I’m recovering from our vacation, haha! Spent four, fun-filled, action-packed days in San Antonio with the hubby and kiddos, and while I hope everyone had a great time, it sure did wear me out!

@jonsblond That is such good news!

@jonsblond Great news!

@jonsblond Yes, great news! I missed your sharing!

Well, I’m not sure what exactly is happening yet with the guy who wanted to make an offer. Buuuut… I’m pretty sure we found the place we want to move to. We’re going to call them tomorrow. :)

This happened yesterday. I finally handed in my notice for my “ends meat” job to fulfill my dream of working as a dog trainer full time! This has been a year in the making so I am relieved that it is finally moving forward.

@Leanne1986 That’s wonderful!

Maya Mary Petersen was born by c-section this morning after 24 hours of labor. She was worth every second of it.

@nikipedia CONGRATS MAMA!!! :D

@nikipedia Taht is wonderful!

@nikipedia That was a long haul. What a stunning picture to capture such a precious moment. Thanks for sharing!

Congratulations, @nikipedia! Maya is a beautiful name for a beautiful little lady!

Awwww, congratulations @nikipedia!

@nikipedia Congrats little mama!
Nothing is more FUN than your very own baby!

Congratulations, @nikipedia! She is absolutely beautiful! And what a pretty name, too.

We finished our project, did a really good job. That’s the great part. The not great part is now I have to leave. :( Will tell you jellies all about this experience when I get home.

Had a great day with my daughter. We met up and had lunch then took a drive out to her old childhood home we haven’t visited in over a decade. The house is in a very secluded and rural area, and sadly, the newest owners have put up a gate on the 800 ft. uphill driveway to the old homestead. It now has a formal “title” a beautiful carved sign at the bottom of the driveway announcing ” The Cottage.”

It was a magical place, where Marwyn came to stay and park like grounds with a grove of 150 year+ Ponderosa Pines surrounding the house.
My old home has a title now!
Blessings to the new owners on “Eden Lane.”
It was an eden, a paradise that few will ever experience.

Good memories, the best!

@nikipedia – Oh she’s beautiful!! Congratulations and much joy as you enjoy getting to know your new daughter. (Love the name, too!)

..yesterday I woke up in Boston at 5am, gave a presentation and drove as fast as I could thru the traffic to catch a plane that brought me home just in time to make it for “date night.” Yummy dinner with friends at a pub and then seats to see a great concert. I was really exhausted when we got home at midnight. It was a lonnnnng day, but a good one.

Today has been a blissfully peaceful, non-screaming day with my baby nephew since I took it upon myself to make him poo, when his stubborn, idiotic dad blew off my “diagnosis” of constipation four days ago. Yes, I’m tooting my own horn today. :D

How do you make someone poo?

Also wondering how to make a child poo.

I cut a suppository down to size, shoved it up his bum, and held his little buttcheeks together so the magic glycerin bullet couldn’t slide out before it did its job.

^TMI

Hey, they asked! :P

One of my former students sent me a letter! He’s at Lansing. :( I have NO idea HOW he got my address. Anyway, I sent a letter to him and included this drawing.

I also sent a letter to an ex-friend of my son’s who’s in jail in Illinois. ALL MY FAVORITE PEOPLE ARE IN JAIL! Anyway, I sent him that picture too.

I’m in Scotland. My dad has never seen the Highlands and I decided, at 57 years old, it’s time he did. Staying near Loch Ness for the next two nights, my happy place.

Just blow a kiss to my grandchildren when you pass bu Stirling @Leanne1986 !

@Dutchess_III Your link goes to a tumblr page, but not a specific drawing.

We went to the zoo! :D

@AshLeigh Don’t stare at me so long next time you go, k? :D

@Symbeline, but you’re just so cute :D

@Judi I thought of you today when I saw a sign for Stirling :)

Today my dad and I played Pooh sticks!

We got a new mod! thorninmud to the rescue. :)

@augustlan Wonderful news. Wonderful jelly.

Yay! I am sure @thorninmud will be a great addition to the campus police. lol
Just don;t become a stickinmud. :-p

I went to a Chamber Music Festival Concert in Bennington, VT this evening. It was transporting!

Well, I’m home. It was really hard to leave. I suppose now I can tell you guys all about it!

I lived in Bar Harbor, ME from mid-June till a couple of days ago. I stayed on the campus of College of the Atlantic with 15 of my classmates; we were spread over two cute little cottages, a 5 minute walk from the ocean. We were a ten minute drive from Acadia National Park and we were all working on various projects within the park. This fulfilled the junior social project that is required at my college.

My specific project was trail mappping, to put it shortly. We mapped Cadillac Mountain’s South Ridge Trail. So, basically I got to hike and take photos and do a bit of computer work for school credit. Great deal for me!

The project also wasn’t so huge of a time commitment that I didn’t have time for my own fun. I hiked countless miles, kayaked, went on a whale watch, a bird tour, sat on the beach, watched sunsets, took photos and painted, drank a lot of wine, formed incredibly close friendships, and basically had the time of my life.

Being so close with nature was amazing. We couldn’t keep the chipmunks out of the house so we eventually just embraced their company. I have freckles that I never knew I could develop. We lived very spontaneously and communally and I learned that I love that. My previous attachments to routine and privacy were challenged and overturned. Being surrounded by friends 24/7 turns out to be an incredibly fun lifestyle.

I’m in the best shape of my life. The health saga of the last few years feels so irrelevant to me now. My body is no longer a roadblock. My legs have doubled in size from carrying me up mountains. I’m feeling mildly athletic for the first time in my life. I have so much motivation to maintain this and stay active.

Nothing will ever be quite like that was. Gonna have to do my best to listen to that old cliche – don’t be sad that it’s over, be happy that it happened. It felt like it was about time I got something wonderful, and boy did I ever. I feel as though I’ll never be stressed again (even though I know that’s not true). I came away with lifelong friendships and incredible memories.

What a wonderful experience, @Mariah! Welcome home. :)

I saw Taming of the Shrew at the Oregon Shakspeare Festival today. It was amazing.
It’s also our 23rd anniversary today. :-)

Happy anniversary, @Judi!

Saw ” 2 Guns” today…hilarious, then hung out with a good friend and then my daughter and her good friend who are both going through boyfriend breakups. It is great that I get to be wise old crone of relationships. lol
Listen to the wise woman girls and do not waste your time on baby boys that are not capable of comprehending what a “win/win” situation involves. Yep, feeling pretty self satisfied tonight. haha

Wow @Mariah. That sounds incredible.

@Mariah How wonderful! I’ve spent a lot of time at Mt. Desert Island and know the College of the Atlantic. I envy you that wonderful experience.

I paddled in Loch Lomond today, the sun was out and the water was warm. Excuse the cheesy expression but I found it a very soothing experience.

Great divorce meeting today and I am very happy with the terms of the settlement we are hammering out. And I wasn’t a wuss.

Someone made an offer on our property! :) Discussing final details tonight!
Also, we found a fourplex that’s got the right amount of bedrooms, and bathrooms. Good location, and really good price! Yay!

edited by me. I’ll get back to this response in 5 days.

Happy anniversary, @chyna! I forgot about my fourth, haha; it was in April.

I had a huge stressful issue where an employee went over my head and it appeared I was not going to be supported by someone who is also an employee but a very valued advisor to my MIL who is not involved in the business but holds the final say. I had not slept for two day. It appears now that the employee (advisor) will back me. I feel vindicated.

So today is my 5 year anniversary on Fluther!

Happy Flutherversary, @chyna!

@chyna Happy Anniversary.

Can I tell about something not so great? I am having a letdown from the real high of our vacation when we spent wonderful time with very good friends and family!

@chyna my 6th was on the 7th!

@marinelife Downer for sure.

@chyna Happy anniversary!

@marinelife That happened to me too earlier this summer after visiting my favorite relatives.

Your guys make me feel better!

Finally entering senior year tomorrow. (I started school at six)
I always wanted to graduate a year early, but last year they told me that if I stayed until senior year I could get scholarships. It’s going to be really mellow since I only need a few classes.

Little Cupcake is 4 weeks 3 days and the size of a mustard seed. Due April 2014. :)

Yay for Little Cupcake!!

On the oppostite note as @AshLeigh I’m starting college this week. So going from the top of the food chain to the bottom again.

I helped to find a little pug a new home since his current owner is very poorly and can know longer look after him. Today I am taking him to his new (very excited) owners who have been looking for a Pug to rescue for a couple of years. Fingers crossed it will be a happy ending for little Freddie!

@Leanne1986 Awww….I have known 2 pugs in my life, from the same family..” Moose & Rio.” They are great little dogs.

As @johnpowell once said, it’s my motherfucking birthday!

Happy Birthday, Auggie Dawgie!

Happy birthday Lisa!!

Happy motherfuckin’ birthday, @Augustmutherfuckinlan!

Property sold. Looking at places.

Bend over @augustlan time for a collective spanking! Happy Birthday! :-)

@Coloma I have never been much of a fan of Pugs but that little one really had me sold!!!

Shoot, didn’t log in yesterday to see it, but happy birthday Auggie!!

Overnight I almost relapsed with the issue that sent me to the hospital last week; the good news is that it cleared up this morning so I get to stay home. The other good news is that my doctor was able to squeeze me in for an appointment on Thursday. I’m going back to college this weekend and was scared I wouldn’t get to see him beforehand. Life’s a little scary for me right now. I appreciate the omnipresent jelly love that continues to flow from you guys.

I just found out that if all goes well my mom will be sleeping in her own bed this Friday! She hasn’t been able to do that for over 5 months now. I’m crying happy tears as I type this.

@AshLeigh I’m so happy for you!

@Mariah I wish the best for you. You deserve a break.

Thanks, @jonsblond! :)

I learned how to put all kinds of stuff in ONE cell!!!

@jonsblond that is so great! I’m happy for you.

@Dutchess_III One cell stuff is SO COOL!

It’s so PERVY too!

Oh @jonsblond, that is wonderful. It’s not often you hear about someone getting out of nursing after they go in. Best to you and yours. And thanks. :)

I got my first unemployment check yesterday! Just in time. I was trying to transfer it into my checking account, where direct debits come out, starting on the 20th of every month. THAT was a cluster! I ended up having to go through the ATM 3 times, withdrawing $300 each time, and depositing that instead. I had $900 in 20’s in my hand. I felt like a drug dealer!

@Dutchess_III Don’t worry. The DEA probably now has you on their watch list. I can’t pull more than $400 in a day, which is a blessing and a curse. Wonderful in a robbery. Terrible when I need to move money from one bank to the other.

I saw Sarah Palin at Target today, trying to look inconspicuous in spandex and fishing boots. Lol

My best friend sent me a link to Katy Perry’s VMA performance, it got me all inspired for me day. Roar is rocking my little world right now!

I made a new friend the other day, he said I was a lot of fun and had a great personality. Well shit…I could have told you that! lol

Today was my 30th wedding anniversary. We’re going to celebrate by going on vacation to Nags Head in the Outer Banks of North Carolina next week.

Congratulations @marinelife! That is a most impressive milestone. Have a great time on your trip.

Mazel Tov, @marinelife !

@marinelife Have a wonderful time…splurge!

Congrats, @marinelife! Tell that lovely man of yours I said so, too. :)

Climb Jockey’s ridge for me, @marinelife, and soak in the stunning beauty of the Atlantic Ocean on eastern side and the Albemarle Sound to the west.

Congratulations, @marinelife! Enjoy the trip.

Congrats @marinelife!

Two things you need to know before I start this narrative:
First: My husband bought me a Canon Rebel camera for Christmas. Oh man. I LOVE that camera. As I was unwrapping it, and saw what it was, my first words were “What the hell have you done…” For one of the very, very few times in my life I refrained from asking how much it cost, although, believe me, the question was running through my mind like a freight train.

It strongly reminds me of the 35 mm camera I had for 20 years. That 35 mm was basically glued to my eyes for all those years, but then it was stolen in early 2004. :(. I was heartbroken. So when my husband got me the Canon I was over the moon! But I’ve been a little lost without a telephoto lens, but they’re, like $400 and more to buy new, so I managed, sadly, without it all of this time. I sadly looked at scenes I couldn’t catch without one, like storks and cranes across the water, and little bugs, and eagles in the trees and I was so sad all the time without a telephoto lens, but I’d rather be sad than broke.

Second: Our lives have been revolving around Fed Ex for about three weeks now. First we were breathlessly awaiting an urgent package that they were supposed to deliver “In a couple of days.” A week went by, no package. They stopped in front of the house a LOT, but there was never anything for us. Rick was to the point he was ready to run around town and hijack every Fed Ex truck he saw to see if they forgot to drop off his package! I told him he would get arrested so don’t do it. I got the shakes every time I saw a Fed Ex truck.

Finally, after a week and a half, he got his package. He needed to fill out some paperwork that was in the package and Fed Ex it back. I made sure it was prepaid, of course.

So, yesterday he needed to go to Wichita, 60 miles away, to get some lab work done AND to Fed Ex his paperwork back. He asked if I wanted to go. I almost said “No,” because I didn’t think I could handle being off of face book for 3 or 4 hours, but changed my mind because I had some old, old disc film, the kind that was around for about 6 months in the late 90’s, that I wanted to get developed. It had pictures that my mother had taken on it. Mom passed in 2005. That type of film was so obsolete that Wal Mart couldn’t do it, so I wanted to take the opportunity to go to a specialty camera store, Moler’s, in Wichita, to drop it off. Rick said “That’s too far out of the way!” which meant he didn’t want to be bothered with it. On a hunch though, and because I’ve lived with my husband a LONG time, I grabbed the film anyway.

Before we headed to Wichita we drove around Winfield looking for a Fed Ex truck so he could give them his package. We only found one, and it was in the WalMart parking lot and the driver was in the store. The driver never came back out. Ever. So I called the 800 number on the truck and found a Fed Ex drop off location in Wichita on East Kellogg.

So we headed to Wichita and got his lab work done. The guy at the lab, a complete stranger, gave me some candy, free, because he knew my husband never did anything for me, but how he knew that is beyond me :)

Then Rick and I headed to the Fed Ex place. Along the way there we passed an old building on Douglas and I yelped, “Hey! That’s the photo store I wanted to go to, to drop the film off!”

Rick kind of grimaced impatiently, which meant “I TOLD YOU IT WAS TOO FAR OUT OF THE WAY!! WHY DON’T YOU EVER LISTEN TO ME?!!” But he grudgingly turned around and we went back. He didn’t like it, because we only had 4 hours left to get to the Fed Ex place, but he did it. I gave him my candy.

We walked into Moler’s Camera. COOL old building, and they’d obviously been in business for years and years and years. The clerk was waiting on another customer and Rick and I just wandered around his store looking at all the neat stuff. They had vintage cameras, vintage photographs. They had EVERYTHING. It was fascinating.

When it was my turn I showed him what I had and he said yes, they had a place they could send the disc film to get developed, and yes, they could put it to a CD.

I looked around a little more, and the next thing I know my husband is saying “Val! Look!” The clerk had a telephoto lens for a Canon Rebel out and was showing it to my husband. I started to grit my teeth because I was not about to spend that kind of money. Wasn’t going to happen. I said, “We only came here to drop of film. We dropped off film. We leave now.”
Rick said, “It’s $149.00.”
I said, “What?”
Rick said, “Yeah!”
I said, “Used?”
“Gently.”

I went over and stared at it, but refused to touch it. I paused while my dream spun out in front of me, then said, “No. Not now. We don’t have the money. And we only have 3 ½ hours to get to Fed Ex.” I walked away.

Rick is a consummate salesman. Behind my back he and the clerk attached it to a Canon Rebel. Rick knew if I got that camera in my hands I’d be a gonner. I fought tooth and nail, yelling “NO! We only have 3 hours and 25 minutes to get to Fed Ex!!! NO! I don’t want to spend the money! NO!!!!”

Then I was a gonner. I was in HEAVEN.

I looked allll around the store, zooming in and out, in and out. I took aim toward the front of the store and zoomed in on the windows of the buildings across the street. A customer walked in. Since I was zoomed out so far, all I could see was his face and he looked all cranky and not photogenic at all, so I zoomed back in and saw that the customer walking into the store was.… A FED EX GUY DELIVERING A PACKAGE!!
I almost dropped the camera! I squealed, “Rick!!! Rick!!”

Rick looked up, kind of jumped out of his skin and yelped, “Do you take packages??”
The cranky guy said, “If it’s ready to go NOW.” You know what a rush they’re always in. You’ve seen Cast Away, with Tom Hanks. Tom Hanks was cranky too, until he got really, really bored.

So Rick rushed out to the car and brought his package in. The Fed Ex guy walked out of Moler’s with it and I walked out with my dream lens.

For a second our lives just came to a perfect center, perfect harmony. It was just unbelievable.

And when we got home we learned that Fed Ex had come to our house again. They had dropped off a brand new Black Berry phone on our door step. Didn’t cost us a dime.

WHAT a day!

And the lense is better than a horse!

Finally found somewhere I can buy a new pair of silver converse :)
Signing papers for the sale of our property tomorrow.

A very good friend of mine has realized her lifelong dream, she got hired by a national airlines today and will be flying a jet!

Just a general feeling of well-being and control lately after a long roller coaster ride. Now if I could only learn to sleep!

I entered a picture of my dog Molly in a dog rescue calendar contest and she is Miss May 2014!

Oooh, that’s so neat! Will she be in a skimpy bikini? :D

Oh – glad that someone revived this thread. I’ve been thinking about it.

It’s two years this week since G. told me he was moving out and I am alive and thriving. That’s all! (modest penguin bow)

Clap clap for @janbb!

Got so see some grandkids today!

@WillWorkForChocolate She is naked in a bed of flowers. Very sexy!

My daughters 26th B-Day is Monday and her awesome gift from me just arrived today.
I can’t wait to give it to her. Shhh….it is a beautiful satin comforter set in brilliant red and brass. I want to keep it. lol

@chyna Awww….centerfold Boxer haha
@janbb Yay….who needs men, they are a PITA. Party, party. ;-)

Had a good day. Bought two new hoodies, played video games with my boyfriend, and watched a movie :)

@chyna Congrats! Can we see the picture?

I have money in the bank and heat in the house. It’s been far too long since I had either, and I’m enormously grateful!

@augustlan I changed my avatar to the picture just for today.

^^ Beautiful!

What’s going to be great today?
Two words…Cashew Shrimp!
Wait, make that 4 words, Cashew Shrimp and Tsing Tao. lol

I have a slight hangover from good food and drinks with good friends last night.

My daughter’s drill team will be performing tonight at the school district’s annual Dancing and Desserts. We get to indulge in delicious treats and watch our daughters dance all evening. I’m really looking forward to it!

I felt little cupcake fetus move around today. Hubby put his hand on my belly and thinks he felt it too. :)

We’re doing an auction today, gratis, for a cancer survivor.

@Cupcake Those feelings are one of the things I miss most about being pregnant. Enjoy them!

I got my internets working!

Every Sunday my boyfriends family has a family dinner, and all of the kids come to their parents house for dinner. It’s nice to see them all happy together, even though it’s a little awkward.

Met up and had a great lunch at an old historic hotel in my zone with my geeses new parents today. We had so much fun!
Exchanged tons of gifts we had been collecting for each other, had wine and Mimosas, and as sad as I still am at having to give up my little darlings I have gained new friends and we adore each other. One big happy bleneded family!

Wonderful @Coloma. It’s been so hard for you…..

We had the benefit auction and must have taken in $10,000. Absolutely the best benefit auction I’ve ever seen. Great people, too.!

I am home again after 12 days on the other side of the country reunited with my husband and doggies.

Finally, we are getting some decent RAIN here in NorCal. Yay! So GREAT!

I made progress with a fearful/aggressive dog I am working with. It was small progress but progress nevertheless.

@Leanne1986 Ever think of coming to the States to work with a small, cute aggressive dog?

@janbb I would love that!

This isn’t a “today” thing really, but I wanted to share that I broke up with my boyfriend last week, and I am doing really well with it. Lots less sad and regret than I anticipated. He is doing better than I expected too. My feeling, and he shared with me that he’s realized he agrees, is that we’ve been “just” friends for awhile already. The breakup really just changed the title. And I always hesitate to use the phrase “just friends” because that undermines the importance that friends hold in my life. He is still hugely special to me. That isn’t changing anytime soon.

@Mariah I agree about the “just friends.” The guy I love the most in the world is my best friend; we each look to date others.

I woke up to a gentle rain and warm blankies. :)

I enjoyed sitting outside early this morning taking in the colorful trees against a backdrop of cloudy skies as our west coast storm breaks up. Just beautiful, vivid colors and dark gray skies with pink clouds filtering through.

@Coloma, we’re probably driving just east of you right now. Just passing Redding going North.

@Judi Cool! You’re still about 4 hours from me but beautiful day huh? :-)
Look out for the high winds tonight, wind warnings in the Sierras of you’re headed this way.

Had a lovely day just hanging with my husband whom I have been missing terribly. Tea and TV, snuggling on the couch, a nap, breakfast out. It was a lovely, slow-paced day. Very restorative.

Hit a 62 point word on WWF. :)

@Coloma, made it to our mountain paradise in Ashland and it was a windy!

@Judi Yay..I love Ashland! Have a great stay!

My friend had a baby five days ago (little girl, no name as yet) and I met her today and had baby cuddles. Even as someone who does not want children of their own, I find holding a sleeping newborn really relaxing.

I got 7 presents in my Amazon shopping cart today. That was stressful enough. Can’t imagine battling crowds to do the same thing. The other good thing is I can see a running total while I’m doing it.

TJBM keeps forgettting this is not a TJBM thread. Wait…uh…

I GRADUATED!!!
With the Alaska Performance scholarship.

Congratulations @AshLeigh!!!

Congrats, @AshLeigh!

I’m in Paris for the week with both my sons, my grandsons and my DIL.

@janbb Do have some champagne and pastries for me!

Today is just one of those comfy days. Colder than hell outside, warm inside, by the fireplace, no commitments, nothing that has to be done, and it’s just one of those days when everything seems right with the world.

@Coloma I did !

I went a florist friend’s open house and had lots of yummy finger food. They probably had 40 different kinds of home made candy and cookies for dessert.

The Chiefs might win again!

Yeah! @Dutchess_III. I love hockey.

>:-)

It’s been more like Little League for the last 100 years!

Wow, you have a really good memory!

Our fourth grandchild was born today! A little girl, which rounds out the grandkids nicely to two boys, two girls. No name as of yet. I’m getting ready to go see her!

Name her after meeeeeee!!!!!

Hey @ibstubro….I got that. You’re in SO much trouble now!

Wha I do?

⊙.☉

I was in Walmart and saw a grown man – unaccompanied – kick his shopping cart up on 2 wheels and race on for a bit. It just tickled my day.

I took a drive here today! OMG! This suspension bridge is scary! A great fall day in the hills!

www.bridgemeister.com/pic.php?pid=767