Wondering if Jiff and Peach made it back okay? Debkay, how are you? MamaJ, please check in also!

We had a fabulous time, save the traffic. The 3 1/2 hour trip turned into 6 hours from MIL's, or 7 if you count the time it took to get to her house from mine. Traffic for only 3 miles was backed up so bad it took 1 1/2 hours. I missed out on the whole Friday get-together, but made up for it on Saturday and Sunday morning. There were tears, Jiff scolded about that, but it was so hard to say goodbye. There was much gabbing and some eating and a lot of sight-seeing and shopping thrown in for good measure! We have to do this again!

I got my favorite picture posted, there will be more later.

Click here

We missed you chickies...... not to mention that we envied you too! Glad you're back safe and sound..... can't wait to hear all about the meet!

That's a great picture!!! Sounds like you all had the best time!!!

OOPS!!! FOUND IT

peachie was REALLY hoping that this one wouldn't come out!!!

and sherrie, it probably took peachie and me less time to get home than it took you!!!! we landed on time. the car service picked us up. and i walked into a mess here. i won't bore you with the details, but let me just say that we have to get some sort of companion for mom...

and more organization so we can cope with this better.

and then, cleaned out the refrigerator, and then the grocery store, and then more discussion. and then, of course, had to take mom to dinner because she didn't get out at all over the weekend [except for church] and it looks as if she ate almost nothing except for a half pound of cheese!!!!

but on to more pleasant things.

GREAT weekend... debk is a beautiful, gentle, soft-spoken charmer. sherrie has a smile that lights up the entire area, and her daughter [clone?] was a real trooper through all the heat and shopping and stone mountain. and restaurants with tablecloths. and lipstick, and goofy old ladies. not a whine, not a complaint, not a fuss. [well, she DID say that her mom was mean because she wouldn't let her have any pets, but since grandma has at least 10, we didn't think the child would suffer permanent damage!!]

we were so worried about sherrie and her crew since they didn't show up on friday, but meeting them in the morning was just fine, too.

and sherrie's MIL seemed to just enjoy being with the girls. a real sweetheart. very kind and gentle. and of course, i was shocked that i'm older than this grandmother!!!! and i'm not even married yet!!!! <sigh> ya never know what life will throw your way. and she's managed to collect a whole bunch of cats, which makes me think she's trying to save the entire cat population of south carolina!!!

and janice. dear kind janice who has a hug and a heart as big as texas. her friend dawn is a ball of energy [we were a little too slow for her, but we managed] and a heart of gold as well.

must confess that deb and i got a little 'overheated' and had to sit out some activities, but we did extremely well, given our histories. the rehab for both of us is in its final stages, i think. we 're working on stamina, and we REALLY worked on it this weekend!!!! thank goodness for reviving virgin marys and such!!!

somehow, the hotel got wind of this get together, and we had smiles and warm wishes and all the help we could want throughout the hotel.

and none of us ate ANY carbs AT ALL during the weekend. NO ONE touched the chocolate mousse cake or the carrot cake or the sweet potato fries with blue cheese dip or anything like that at all. and there were no beers or margaritas or that kind of stuff, either.



the best part: all the chick chat. a lot of heart-felt, heart-filled discussion. many laughs, and a few tears.

and janice only cried a little, when we left. and i was real surprised at sherrie welling up, too. the time we spent was just toooooo short.

but the good news is that we're planning to do this again next year. and we're all hoping that with a WHOLE YEAR'S NOTICE, all those pennies will get saved and more will be able to join in.

we talked about ALL of you, with some sadness, because you weren't there with us. and there was common agreement about several points, especially this one:


RUTH WEARS US OUT!!!

and one that i thought was interesting, is that everyone LOVES to read all those little details about each other's lives. yeah, your life may seem boring to YOU, but it looks as if that's what keeps us all connected. so, i promised sherrie that i'd post more about my job and other stuff. i just figured i would be boring everyone to tears, but after this chick chat, it's ok. if someone doesn't want to read it, she doesn't have to.

i'm sure there will be more later, but i did want to just add some before i forgot.

OMG I wish that I could have gone. I will say that I did have fun with camping. the kids had a great tie but I am sure that I would have had more fun there!! {{sigh}}

Love to all and glad you are back home

Jiff, Peach, and Deb missed the excitement. After you guys took off this morning I went down to the pool with Tommie AGAIN for one last dip before we left. MamaJ and Betty were chatting and dd was begging me to get in the kiddy pool with her. She thinks I'm a giant play-toy, not her mom. So, what do I do with my brilliant self? I jump into the kiddie pool. And landed on something fragile (unfortunately NOT my rear end!) and I think I broke 3 of my toes. Can we say DUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHH??????

MamaJ and I met up for one last hug when we were checking out (believe it or not, there were no tears!) and she gifted me with a stuffed chicken, which is so hilarious! It sings "The Bird is the Word" I think is the name of it. Now it has a prominent position on my desk, and reminds me of you guys, always producing a smile. Peach also gave me a little reminder, you guys are so great!!

The drive home was MAGNIFICENT and it only took the required 3 1/2 hours, I guess the state gives the road workers Sundays off why couldn't they do that on Friday night???

There are so many funny stories to tell and I just can't remember them all right now. We have got to have a gigantic 3FC meeting somewhere next year. It will be like a reunion, you wouldn't believe how comfortable we all were with each other. I am really shy around new people, but I felt I knew everyone already. Please, everyone???

I'm going to bed now, have to prepare for the dreaded after-vacation workday, ugh. Talk to ya'll later!

Sounds marvelous. I wish I could have been there too. Did you really break your toes, goodforme? OWIEEE
BTW, I think ALL the Chicks agree that our Ruth wears us out just reading her posts. LOL Don't let it get to you, Ruth. Whatever feels right for you is just fine.
As for next year's meet...if you had it in a reasonably accessible place...like LasVegas, for example, I would be there with bells on. LOL
Just love your chicken hats. They are SO KEWL.

Where are the pictures hiding! I am missing something, I guess. Never slean up your computer - I may have deleted picture software.

I can't find the pictures either!!!!!

ladies... check the bottom of sherrie's first post. see where it says click here??? that's where you'll find the pic. debk has most of the pics, and i think janice has a few as well [peachie and i didn't take cameras with us. DRAT]

deb will try to get her hubby to post them very very soon. so, they're coming!!!!

Duuuuuhhh.... thanks jiff!

I love those hats.......... "inside jokes" are NO FAIR!!!!! - it's bad enough that some of us couldn't go, but inside jokes are really really really really mean........ y'all are gonna make me cry and cry and cry....

p.s. how'm I doin? feel guilty yet? No? well, I didn't really think so, but it couldn't hurt to try!!

glad to help, sam n rosie's grandma... but it's not really much of an inside joke... everyone around here knows about ruth's chicken purse, and that we refer to ourselves as the chicks.. chickies, hens, and all.

so, when the ladies found a man selling strange hats, they just couldn't resist. except peachie. she DID resist, and lost. LOL!!!!

unfortunately [or maybe FORTUNATELY] debk and i were having a 'weak moment,' and were resting in the shade while those crazies went off on more adventures. so, we missed the whole thing!!!

and by the way, NO GUILT HERE!!!! i'm immune at this point. but nice try!!!

Oh what a great time we had!!!

Everyone was just wonderful, and beautiful to boot!! Picked Jiff and peachie up at the airport on Friday afternoon, within 10 minutes I felt like I had known them my entire life. We surprised Janice by peachie knocking on the hotel door saying, "avon calling." Janice flew out the door to hug us all and locked herself out of the room (her friend was at the pool.)

Over low-carb drinks and low-carb Mexican, we were able to get to know each other Friday night. Saturday after meeting up with Sherrie, her adorable little girl and her very friendly MIL we enjoyed Stone Mountain Park and shopped. All the chicks came home with a Stone Mountain Handbag, and some more than one, right Jiff!

I was so sad to see Sunday get here. We had one last meal together, where one of our northern ladies was able to taste a very southern dish, and liked it too. It was "low-carb" sausage gravy.

I do have pictures of the beautiful ladies, tried to post them last night, but the images were too big. Will have hubby work on getting them sized tonight and hopefully posted.

I look so forward to our next chick get together. Linda I like the idea of Vegas, we were throwing out cities and Vegas never came up, but it's a good idea.

Debbie

Sherrie, ouch on the toes, hope they feel better soon. Not much can be done for broken toes. Glad we missed it, I wouldn't want to see you in pain.

Sounds like all of you lucky ladies had a wonderful time. I knew you would. Glad everyone made it home safe and sound. I am really enjoying your stories and am looking forward to seeing all of the rest of the pictures. Hey how about Chicago next time??????

Ok, so I lied....I kind of look at that picture and think of that as my matriculation outfit!

WE DID HAVE FUN! Betty was as sweet as could be, Sherry's daughter was soooooooo good and I often looked over at her and had the "girl envy" thing going on...lots of pinks and purples going on there!!!!! Dawn was the type of gal that I would have as a friend, I liked her immediately.

Janice, Sherry and Debkay. I have been writing with Sherry for...maybe a year now and Janice and Debbie for over three years. I have spoken to Debbie and Janice on the phone several times. I loved them even more than I thought I would. You know, you think people are maybe not going to be what you expect them to be? They were everything and more and it was really really REALLY NICE!

and Jiff turned out to be a great traveling companion and boy did she buzz around...it was great to see!

There are tons of things to say, but dh is over at mom's house and I need to scrub up around here. The boys and dh did great while I was away...so.....I CAN GO AGAIN!!!!!! YIPPPEEEEEE!!!

One of my favorite things out of so many good things was sitting by the pool on Saturday night. I don't think any of us realized how late it was. Debkay's phone rang and it was her daughter, "Mom! Do you know it is midnight?" "Where are you?"

Than...30 seconds later...her phone rings again! It is her older son..."Young lady? do you know what time it is?"

I got such a kick out of that!!!!

The chicks were great
Shopping was great
It was pretty darn HOT...but I would do the whole thing over again in a heart beat.

got to run and scrub!
peach