oh boy...just a few hours and the curtain is up! I am feeling a little nervous!

The dress rehearsal was a disaster! Well for me it was as I totally got star struck by the lights and the audience. We had a few watching. I know it will be better tonight but still!
I did find an excellent costume at the costume hire. I am pleased with it and hope it will sprinkle magic dust and help me remember my lines!
I really do love the whole theatre thing. I got involved with it when I was a teenager at school, my first experience was school musical, which would be my first love. It has been fun though. One of the best parts is having fun with all the cast. There is such room for fun! They are a great bunch but so young and I sometimes feel a little ancient!

DH is doing so well. He loves it and I know he will be nervous but fabulous!

HappyI love the new avatar! and the pictures are just gorgeous. DH has a real eye for the camera. I love your bird feeder, how special. i am going to be on the lookout for one of those!

MeadowI so understand how you feel. it's tricky trying to negotiate everyone! The schedules go out the window and are really revised daily. I think that is why I love vacation, I don't get that icky feeling in my tummy when I just know that I am missing something or late to something. It's a good feeling having that spare time, enjoy the evenings still while there is light, enjoy a picnic on the grass when you can! Hollysame for you!
I know what you mean about missing them, the stages and such too. I have a Birthday coming up for DD soon and I was thinking about planning a party the other day, she has grown out of so much of the "little girly" stuff and it's kinda sad, that time went so quickly. I also saw a picture of my Ds13 when he was only 4 and he looked so adorable, made me a little sad, he still is adorable but just so darn big!

ShadIsn't it funny how we all crave that time alone and peace but it's different when we don't have a choice, I hope you have something to fill the spaces soon and that you get some commnication going between you and the powers that be! That is so frstrating for you! Can you grab one of those cars and do some sight seeing? Wasn't it sad about Steve Irwin. He really was a legend and it doesn't seem real. It is strange how some people are not long for this world. They achieve so much in their short existence and leave such an impression. I really believe that. I was so annoyed at Germaine Greer's response to his death. I couldn't actually believe that the media would voice it. It seems to add insult to injury and was totally uncalled for. There is a time when people should just keep those views to themselves and allow the family anf friends the grace to greive.

Ceejay Oh you really do put me to shame on the exercise front! Well done. Do an extra mile for me please! I want pictures too please!

Melly ... Hope you are feeling loads better soon, we are all thinking of you

Have a lovely weekend everyone!
Suz

Hi Shad, your little light is on. Good afternoon to you.

Yep, changed my avatar - thanks for noticing. I like to change things out and Labor Day always reminds me that autumn is in the air, tho we still have quite a bit of warmth left here.

I would think you could do well to write the "practical guide" for getting on and around SAP. It is still a mystery to me and no one will tell me anything about it. Apparently there are many other instances and not all master data and transactions are in R/3. And it took 4 circuits and 12 people just to get that little tidbit of info.

Dang, there are rogue mossies flying about and they are intent on making it their mission to seek me out and bite me. Just got another on my arm. Should not have to wear mossie repellant in the house!

The hummers are gathering en masse. More each day as they all look to stoke up for their big trip south. Too many even for the guards to chase off.

Still unable to get through to Mel. Line is still busy. I have emailed her. Perhaps I have the wrong telephone number.

Buggers, look at the time - I should have been in bed 90 minutes ago. So glad tomorrow is Friday even if it was a short week.

Hope you have enough to keep you awake this afternoon Shad.

I like oats in the cobbler or fruit crumble too Holly. Hope you enjoyed it. Smelled great even all the way down here

Suzi, you snuck in too Good luck with the play - you will be awesome. Just pretend you are acting for a skit at home for your kids.

Suzi--I've heard actors say "break a leg" for good luck. I know you will do well.--On the exercise, yesterday was a cop out on the stamina bike. My body said NO big time. I worked in the yard late yesterday afternoon. I'm counting 30 minutes of that as exercise. I trimmed the hedge and raked it to the street. My shoulders are a little sore this morning.

Happy-I also like the avatar. Thanks for Mel's phone number and reminding me that she's an hour ahead of us.

My boss called me yesterday and told me that a co-worker was quiting. Drat, it wasn't L. We'll probably go to 8 hours shifts for a little while with no day's off until the new person has been hired and trained. C's last day is the 16th. The ISP is in the back yard so I need to get this posted before they turn me off. They are installing a new fiber optic wire underground. It's been kinda fun watching them using the bore machine which digs under ground then they pull the wire through the hole.

Most of the things on my to do list have been completed.

Morning all,

I'm sitting here all alone in a training room at 7.00am in the morning. None of the participants have shown up.
I did something real stupid this morning. I was driving in to work and saw the sun rising on a lake - lots of reflections etc. I thought I would go back and take a photo for you lot. Anyway I turned around and went back turned again and then backed up to where I could see the water. All of a sudden the car lurched and grated and stopped. Oh Boy I have backed over a horizontal pipe and am now stuck with one wheel in the air. Panic PANIC Panic. Along comes a couple of blokes who say can't just pull you off because of the stop cock balls - we will have to jack it up and then try to pull it off. Trust us we are Engineers. One Bloke found some chocks and one got his trusty jack and they inched it up and forward. No2 bloke got in the car and nearly castrated himself - he was definitely stuck - well 6 foot 4 and built like a tank hardly goes into a car with the seat set up for 5 foot 2 and relatively normal. I had to reach underneath him and get the seat back - its an electric gizmo on the side of the seat. He drove it slowly forward on the chocks and then the other guy set up a new set of chocks and we inched the car off. Thank heaven for these two. I have no idea what I would have done without them. And they were so cheerful throughout it all. I have promised them the bottle of scotch that I won at the ball the other night. I'll get it down to them as soon as I get out of here. Big gruff gorgeous saviours!!!!! Oh and in case you were wondering - I didn't get the photo either.

Mel's phone seems to be constantly busy but she is not always on the computer. Last e-mail I had she said that she only goes on in the mornings when the eyes are fresh. The cyst in the eye has apparently come to a head and things are improving. She's on constant sinus meds because of the weed and mould allergies etc. I'm not sure exactly what her phone set up is. Sometimes I can get to leave a message when I ring, sometimes I just get the engaged signal and no voice mail. It seems a weird set up but it may have something to do with her job with the maintenance people. She seems to have some switching device going.

Suzi - break a leg tonight. Remember you are delivering these lines to friends. It's nothing more than a loud chat among friends. You will do fine. Don't forget to get some photos of you and DH all decked out. The fine minds on the thread want to see the action!!!

Ceejay well done on getting things accomplished from the list. Wish that I had a list. Oh well, I guess I can go home, tidy the cell, go for a walk, deliver the scotch, go to the gym and see what the local library (if open) has in the way of a book or two. I'm fresh out of reading material again. I've finished the sudoku puzzle book I bought. There doesn't appear to be much in the way of craft type stores so I can't buy a cross stitch or tapestry to while away the hours. Maybe I'll just check out the stores (one more time). Maybe the engineers will find a concreting job, or a steam roller I can drive or something. Or maybe I'll just go quietly troppo.

See you.

Can't have you going troppo my dear.

There are several online Soduko websites, perhaps you can print a few to work on in the evenings.

http://www.websudoku.com/

I'm sorry I don't mean to laugh at your expense but I was in tears about the car. My nose is stuffed I was laughing so hard. Gotta go get some tissues...

to you Happy Happy friday afternoon to you!
The play went fabulously last night and the audience was GREAT! I think sometime you don't realise how good something is until you have the real dael infront of you....it was so much fun! very hammy and very over acted. It's a melodrama so it just has to be that way.
I enjoyed my little cameo and DH was the evil star!
Shadyour early morning adventure sounded like a line from my life. i am always doing stuff like that. How nice of the cute gruffies to come and rescue you..... I bet Mel would have loved a peek!
Hope she is feeling better soon.
Thanks Ceejay on the "luck" I better go get into this day.
xxx kisses, will report tomorrow.

Happy - your egg is lit. Hi - must be getting late in the evening and at last you have Friday!! Yahoo.

Hi folks,

Quick check in for me. I got up early and I want to maximize the day which means staying away from the computer as much as possible.

Suzi - so glad that the play went well for you both! Sounds like an opportunity you have to explore further. It's good to step out of your comfort zone and challenge yourself. If you have fun too, all the better!

Shad, thanks for the info. Yes, that's the number I have for Mel. Seems no matter when I call I get the busy / engaged signal. I've tried at least 5 days now - guess I'll just have to periodically keep trying. At least now I know it's not something wrong with the telephone itself. I thought maybe the east coast wasn't taking calls from us Southerners

CeeJay - must be that restless time when everyone shifts jobs. We are losing alot of people at our company and others are looking around for other opportunites. I'm tired of working - period. Well at least in this environment. It's not that I want to spend my days sitting around the pool - it's more the case that there's sooooo much I need to / would like to / want the time to check out. And there's not alot of time left over after taking care of a house and working full time. Ok, so maybe I don't need to watch so much TV actually to that note I have stopped watching TV. The new season is about to start and I said I really need to get out of this habit of sacking in front of the TV for most of the evening after supper. Especially when there's new TV shows, it's getting darker earlier and the cooler weather will eventually bring out the sluggishness in us. So I promised myself I would pick my 5 favorite shows and limit myself to those. So far this week I have only watched 2 hours of television. And it has made a difference.

Time is up - gotta get rolling here. Have a good weekend everyone - hope to hear from all of you.

Message from Mel.
HELLO GIRLS!! I HAVE NOT ABANDONED YOU AND ALSO KNOW THERE IS MAIL IN MY BOX. I WILL GET TO IT AND THE FORUM THIS WEEK. ALTHOUGH I THOUGHT THE EYE WAS IMPROVING, THE DR THAT COMES HERE WAS CONCERNED. THE BUS DRIVER HAD ANOTHER WOMAN WHO WAS GOING FOR CHEMO TREATMENTS AND ASKED IF I WANTED A RIDE. WE GO TO THE SAME HOSPITAL. LUCKY FOR ME SO I WENT. THEY "LEVELED" THE CYST, SLAPPED A BANDAGE ON IT AND SENT ME HOME. THE BANDAGE WAS JUST TO GET ME HOME AND THEN REMOVE IT. I FEELS MUCH BETTER NOW AND THE PAIN OF THE PRESSURE IS GONE. THEY SAID MY DR WAS A WEE BIT OVER THE TOP ABOUT IT BUT SINCE I WAS THERE IT WOULD JUST TAKE 2 SECONDS AND SPEED THE HEALING BUT THAT I HAD DONE A GREAT JOB. THE DRY EYE IS STILL THERE OF COURSE BUT ALLERGY SEASON IS UPON ME. LOTS OF REST, LOTS OF FLUIDS, LOTS OF EYE STUFF TO DO....IT'S LIKE A FULLTIME JOB!
I CANNOT GO OUT FOR A FEW DAY BECAUSE RIDING MAKES A BREEZE. I CAN USE THE PC TO POST, NO REAL READING AND THAT'S IT FOR A FEW DAYS. THEY SAID I WOULD KNOW WHEN IT WAS TIME AND NOT TO RUSH ANYTHING. THEY DON'T WANT THE EYE IRRITATED AND THE ROSACEA TO BEGIN ANEW. I MISS YOU LOT BUT HAVE NOT FELT LIKE TALKING. IT MAKES ME CRY AND THATS A NO NO TOO!!
WILL BE BACK SOONER THAN YOU THINK!! LOVE, MEL

And a ps. She apparently keeps the computer on to stop calls from the office and other nasties. So if you want to speak to her, e-mail a time and date and she will be available.

Well I actually had a training class today. Quite a number too. So I was okay about getting out of bed at 5.15 to get here on time. No incidents today, thank heaven. But I still have to find the gruffies and deliver the Scotch. It's in the back of the car. I'll be looking for them on my way home. They work on the roads apparently, so I have to find a roadwork person, ask them where the Engineer G is and go find him.

That's about it for today. Happy the idea of limiting tv is good. I have to do it myself otherwise I can sleep through several programs at a time. Yesterday after I got home I went to the shops, and the gym. Didn't end up going for a swim, went to the library and explained my problem to the lady there and she has a solution for itinerants like me. They have shelves full of paperbacks and books which have been donated to the library and I can take as many as I like and replace them with the ones I have bought and finished. There are some reasonable titles there. So I borrowed five and replaced them with some of mine and will be back to look for more during the week.

Better go and look for my favourites Weipa blokes.

My aunt and I went shopping in Jonesboro today. We went to JCPenny’s for her to exchange some things and I wanted to see if they had an extra panel for my drapes. They did have it so I was pleased. My aunt mainly wanted to go to Trees and Trends to look for fall accessories. Then back to Walmart to pick up my pictures that I had developed.

My uncle made a picture of me today in which I’m using as a starting point. I should have done this 5 years ago. I’m also reporting to him for weigh in’s each week. The “silly man” told me he wanted to measure me on the wall for my inches. He was laughing the whole time he was saying this. I’m taking him up on the weigh though. This will make me accountable to someone with out having to pay.

My main problem is the sodium/potassium ratio which is probably what I should count instead of calories. This week I’m going to focus on eating more raw fruit and veggies that are high in potassium.

Today’s exercise consisted of walking but I didn’t wear the pedometer so I don’t know how many steps, miles or calories were burned. Think I focus to much on this aspect, but I need to keep accountable for my actions. Plus 20 crunches and 20 oblique crunches each side, I paid for those 100 crunches I did Thursday.

Today’s food was breakfast-oatmeal, 1 peice of sausage, 1 peice of toast with fruit spread and orange juice, lunch, 6 inch Subway ham and cheese sandwich with lettuce, tomato and mayo on honey oat bread 16 oz diet coke and 1/2 of a bag of potato chips, dinner, 3 very salty chicken strips, 1 roll, 1 individual bag of chips, 1 Zero candy bar and a 16 oz regular dr pepper and 1 banana.

I’m not sure what I’ll take to work tomorrow.

Shad--Glad you were not hurt and had help. At least you didn't back into the tree like I did at one time.

Suzi-glad the play went well and that you had a lot of fun.

Happy-I need to break myself of watching to much tv and the computer also.

Hello to all the rest.

Good Morning chicks,

Got a short email from Mel. It's very difficult for her to see, she hopes to be back soon - sends her love to the chicks. CeeJay (I see you on right now) - she got your note but couldn't read it. I try to use large font sizes when I write to her.

Continuing along here...

The weather is warming up a bit, tho the pool is a done deal. The water is 78 degrees and dropping which is way too cold for me, even if it's 90 degrees and the sun is shining. With autumn advancing and the sun being on more of an angle, we get much more shade now and the whole pool is in sunlight maybe only an hour a day.

Going to take out the tomato plants too. The don't get enough sun now so the fruits are small and have cracks due to the temperature fluctuations. What does ripen gets chewed up quickly by the blasted birds and squirrels. I think next year I'm going to try a container garden up by the pool.

I should have done more than I did yesterday. Got caught up in things going on in the homeowners association - or should I say NOT going on. I am ready to just throw in the towel on that deal. Don't need the stressors in my life. Then I got to picking at things in our home "office" - starting to sort through piles of papers but making more of a mess than results. DH and I went to the nursery to check out fall plants. We got some yellow and white chyrsanthemums (there's that word I can't spell again ) to go underneath the tree on one side of the property. I should get those planted today because if they get dried out - even partically, it's hard to bring them back.

And there's the usual laundry and groceries. We have a huge festival going on in the park nearby. I would really like to go but the traffic is horrendous. Last year DH and I went and we paid $20 to park on someone's lawn just so we didn't have to walk a few miles or take a shuttle bus. It's mosty craft booths so now that DH knows what it's about he's not too keen on going there. They have an annual "weenie dog race" - a running of the dachshound breed. I imagine it's quite fun to see, but that's when it's the most crowded. This is held in a park right in the middle of the residential area so there's not much in the way of parking at all. I guess I probably won't go after all as this would be an all day event and DH says we don't need to be bringing more "junk" into the house.

Did you find your buddies Shad? Did you all toast the wonders of roadside service? Wait a minute - were you teaching and getting out of bed at 5am on a Sunday????

Ok, time to get moving. Hellos to the missing weekend warrior chicks.

Morning all,
Yes well it is still morning here but only just. Nothing happening here. I've been out and around site trying to help the guys out but have run out of victims to harass. So I will go off down the road to get some lunch I think and then start accosting all males in orange shirts.

Happy the chrissies sound so nice. Yellow and white will make a great display, how about putting an edging of those golden orange marigolds around the outside border to make the colours stand out. You can eat the marigolds too in salads if you wish. Actually the Japanese eat the Chrysanthemums as well. Go well in salads apparently.
No I haven't found my buddies yet. The scotch is lying securely under the seat of the car. I came down around the same time this morning hoping to see the road guys but they were all apparently suffering from Mondayitis. I would have come to the fair/fete with you if I had been there. I like to wander around those sorts of places. Don't have to buy but now and then you see something you just gotta have. And yes, since the plant runs 24/7 we train 7 days a week. I drew the line at training in the wee hours but have said that I'm okay to get out of bed at that hour, just not get home at that hour.

And that is about it for the day. I'm trying to organise from long distance the party for the DB2 but it is difficult to work out when the NZ contingent will be here. They are apparently going to Melbourne for a couple of days first. Then there is one of DB2's school buddies in Florida and I need to let him know asap so he can book flights etc. Hopefully they will let me go home soon. There is so much more I can be doing there.

Are Ceejay, Happy and I talking to ourselves here? Where are the rest of you???????