Jessica- how about in 2 weeks when we are all set up?

We went over last night and dropped of the painting supplies and changed the locks on the doors. Tonight we have to pick up a couple of things from Home Depot and will be dropping those off and maybe doing a little prepwork since we will be painting tomorrow.

It was so exciting getting the paint last night! I picked two shades of yellow and two shades of green and I think they will go well together. I am trying to stay withing the same colour scheme throughout the house so there is a nice flow and the rooms are bright and cheery. The windows throughout the house aren't very big except in the living room so I stuck with lighter colours. We also picked up a couple of inexpensive light fixtures to replace the tacky ones that the previous owners left behind. Oh, and I picked up a nice bright red paint for the front door.

We met a set of our neighbours yesterday too. They are a woman and her son, he looks like he is in his mid to late 20's, and their giant Rotweiller (who I think has been digging under the fence between our yards - the dog, not the son ). And when we were leaving the man across the street who we already have met said hello and we chatted with him for a few minutes before leaving. He is an older man, Italian and has lived in that house for 20 years. And the guy living next door to him was sitting on his porch playing accoustic guitar. I think I am going to enjoy living in this neighbourhood

Be warned Mauvie,

They all seem cool when you haven't unpacked your boxes yet. Wait a while and see what they are like, say 7 months from now.

Tiki.

Thanks Jessica and Dale!!

DS came through with shining colors. The doctor didn't find anything beyond a slightly inflamed area, and a small hemmorhoid. WHAT A RELIEF!! DS is now beyond the embarassment and into getting some frames for the pictures of his esophagus, stomach and colon!!! He handled the whole thing REALLY well, and the staff at the hospital was WONDERFUL. I told him that he had people all over the place thinking of him who he didn't even know...that made him feel very good. Some of you know that he has an anxiety disorder; his doctor is talking about taking him off his meds next summer, and the maturity with which he has been dealing with things lately makes me think he will be able to do it. It was SUCH a relief to walk into the recovery room and see him. Even f you believe the outcome will be good it is a STRESS to have your kids go through something like this! His biggest worry today: "My butt is hanging out of this robe."

Dale-Do you know, DS actually said to ME on the way home, "Well, that was a new experience and something that I've learned a lot from." YIKES! as a parent it is so great to see them grow up and mature like that, but it is also a shock to see it!! It is great that your daughter talks with you like that! It will help her a lot in the coming years, even if sometimes she says she doesn't want to hear it! My attitude is, "As long as they like you again at the other end of adolescence everything will be fine." I had a rough time with my Mom as a teen, but am very close to her now. We have a lot of fun together! I am sure that it will be like that for you and your daughter too.

Mauvais-That is SO exciting!! Sounds like a great neighborhood too!! It is nice that you can get into the house ahead of time to paint and change light fixtures. Sure beats trying to paint around the furniture!! ENJOY!!!

Oh, Den, that is just the BEST news! I'm so very glad that things turned out well. What a sense of humour that little bugger has!

Mauvais, the Italians around here are great. I know a lot of the older generation, and many of them speak barely any English! Remind me to introduce you to one in particular. He'll give you produce from his garden. And homemade wine. ****, they ALL will!

Hi chicas!

Den - You have a quite a grown-up on your hands! I wouldn't be talking about learning from a camera-up-the-butt-experience ! Glad everything is okay tho!

Mauv - Oooo! Red for the front door will be awesome! Can I say again how excited I am for you?!! And Rottweilers are just big dumb heads. Feed them and they'll love you to pieces.

I've been super frustrated lately with diet and the whole business with being big and fat. (I'd throw in lazy but I don't have the time too ). So, I was thinking it was time to shake things up a bit and try something new. However unexciting it may sound, I was thinking of doing the South Beach thing. So, I went to lurk on the board over there for awhile and hmmm I saw some familiar faces If I start it, I start on Monday (gotta finish reading the book). I've never been a high protein kinda gal. So, I'm still unsure of this step. Do you ever feel like you're bouncing around the diet world?

Den, I think your son is a pip! I'll think of him and what HE had to go through during my next TOM (when I'm angry that my "internal feminine protection device" doesn't slide in as easily as it used to.) I don't mean for that to be graphic and gross...hope I don't offend. But as I enter pre-menopause, I'm understanding, finally, why women might need to use artificial lubricants from time to time. My body is definitely in transition.....

Mauxvais, it sounds like you know exactly what you're doing with your front door. I'm admire you. I want to paint mine red too, but first I have to peel off the old exterior surface (which is coming off in strips!)--and then I have to figure out what kind of prep work the door needs. (I'm not very good at this stuff...I tend to just want to get it overwith and then later discover that my Fix-It-And-Go task SHOULD have been a multi-step process!) Plus my door faces south and takes the brunt of the weather exposure. I could just go buy a new door, but I don't really want to spend the money---and it's humbling for me to do these "artsy" things every once in awhile....

VERY humbling......

Ellis, I got an interesting new book from the library yesterday (and it is a NEW title): "The Midnight Disease: The Drive to Write, Writer's Block, and the Creative Brain." Just started it, but it's fascinating. The author is Alice W. Flaherty.

Also...new recipe that's quite tasty warm or chilled as salad. It's a shell pasta with a "salsa cruda"--uncooked sauce--of capers, the good Italian tuna (expensive but worth it here!), artichoke hearts, diced kalamatas and lemon. For the recipe, go to Epicurious.com and search on the word "cruda." Yum. (I was cheap and used only one can of tuna, and I cut the olive oil in half, and it was still good.)

Den - I am sooo happy that things went well for your son. I was thinking about you both last night. Your son sounds like he took the experience like a grown young man. I would not know how to feel, proud? sad, cause he's growing up so fast, worried, cause let's face it your a mom! or even thrlled just knowing that you have raised a fine young man who can endure and really isn't that what we spend most of our life doing?

When my daughter was six she had to have a rectal exam because the doctor thought she might have appendicitis (sp) so I had to take her to emergency for the exam and for the two years previously I had being periodically instilling her with the knowledge that she should NEVER let anyone touch her in a inappropriate way. when I explained to her what was going to happen she pretty much looked at me like I was an evil nut. She would not even consider the thought of the exam until I told her we would wait until she said she was ready, finally the doctor came in and wanted to do the exam she screams "I AM NOT READY, YOU SAID I COULD BE READY!!!!, I am NOT ready yet!" tears pouring and her face is purple. I asked the doctor to please wait for a moment so I could calm her down (meanwhile in the hallway, fiance wants to punch the doctor out) I looked at Natanya and told her "Baby he has to check you" and she gives me a dirty look and SCREAMS at the top o her lungs "YOU TOLD ME NEVER TO LET ANYONE TOUCH ME DOWN THERE" my feelings were crossed with wanting to laugh just looking at how serious she was, how proud I was that she was not letting anyone near her and by the time it was over I was willing to take the exam myself to make her feel better!

That was fun, I think I will start a thread about funny kids stories. I have a ton!

Maux, the amount of work that you are going to be faced with is going to be worth it all. Your space, the life you'll build there and the memories you'll make, good for you!

Hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend

Dale

Dale, that is a gorgeous story about your daughter!

LLS, that book sounds good! I'm going to look for it at the library... thanks for the tip!

Jessica, we'd love to have you join us on South Beach! It's really become a successful WOE for a lot of people.

Hello chickies...

I just realized that I haven't been on this site in SIX months! This would explain why my weight is the same I guess. But so many things have happened in that time... what craziness. So I am working with this international relief organization since the beginning of the year, Shelter For Life International. They do humanitarian projects in Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Sri Lanka, and Tajikstan (currently). I have been working as a Program Development Officer meaning I do grant-writing and develop new projects. But get this, I spent two whole months this summer in Kabul, Afghanistan! Can you believe it? I survived five rocket attacks, an earthquake, a threat by the Taliban on our organization, driving through a minefield, and the worst most insane traffic in the entire world. But most of my time was spent visiting project sites, meeting with the UN and other funding agencies, making lots of new friends, and writing funding proposals. So life has been interesting, as you could probably surmise!

I did manage to lose about five pounds on the Afghan diet hahahahahaaa , but unfortunately the weight found me instantaneously upon setting foot back in the US. So I'm sick of being fat and am ready to make some changes. Thank God I have been able to keep off the 18-20 pound weight loss that I managed here with you chickies way back when. I haven't excercised one single bit in months and my eating is so nasty right now I would be embarrased to go into detail.

So... what is new? Is anyone here now horribly thin so I that I can hate and envy you?

Your zaftig and voluptous fat chick friend,

Amy

Welcome back Sojo!!!! I am glad you made it back ok.

Den - I am glad DS is ok!!

Hi Ellis, Dale, LLS, Jessica, & Mauvais! And everyone else!

Welcome back AMY! Wow, sounds like an awful lot of adventure! What a cool job! Glad to have you back. I feel the same. Enough of this fat business.

Ellis - I've lurking on the SoBe board but helllo? What a heck of a lot of people. I can hardly keep up with the chat!

I just got back from a Baby Shower. Thank god there was no baby food tasting games or the horribel melted candy bar in a diaper game. We did play "The Price Is Right" game where you had to guess the price of baby furniture. Apparently my imaginary baby shops at only the primo shops because all my prices were wrong. I guess $3K for this baby change center and it was "only" $1100.

Hi squeaker! How are thing with you?

I hear ya, Jessica. It's crazy in there!

Amy, welcome back, girl!

Jessica - I was at a baby shower on Sunday and we played the same game. I actually won that one.


Hello chicks! Sorry I have been so MIA lately. I am here and looking, but just no time to post. I have been busy and I have been sick. So anytime I am home, I am trying to sleep. But I am hanging in there.

Oh, Squeak, so sorry you're sick, hon.

Welcome back Sojo! even though we have not spoken much I am happy you made it back okay. I am sure you are probably still thinking of what you left behind, and that mixed with the feelings about being happy to be home must be something else ...just remember you done good!!!!, very, very good!

Squeak, I hope you are feeling better, drink lots of tea, make lots of love and if that doesn't work theres always Nyquil? Feel better okay?

This week at work again has beenpretty stressing but I have come to actually enjoy being needed so. I am sure that will last until I am too exhaushted to breathe but for now I am okay.

I just want to say that you girls ROCK! and I have come to love you tons!!!! and rely (what do I feel I am spelling rely wrong? it just seems to short) on you all!

Dale