Linda,

If you need to get out of there, I've got a great spare bedroom here on the east coast.

Lynn

Oh phooey . . . the bad news just never seems to stop . . . here's an article I just found in my e:mail in-box about the latest "invention" in the bad-for-us world of fats . . . http://www.dlife.com/dLife/do/ShowCo...fake_fats.html

Hi Ya'll:

I don't know why everything is underlined?????


Fires are burning out of control here in CA.


http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/story?se...cal&id=5719542#


Zoe: Hip Hip Horay!!! You are wearing a size 12. I'm hoping I'll be able to wear a 12 in the not too distant future. I heard on a talk show last night that 30% of the Arctic has melted and that if we can't get that stopped we will all be burning up soon. I don't know how it works but it sounds pretty bad to me. I also hate to see the polar bears, penguins, and other wildlife die off.

Funny story about running out of gas! You tell the best stories. I laugh at all of them. I remember running out of gas in the last car I owned. It's the only time it has happened but I thought I could drive to the store and stop on my way back home. Surprise...Surprise...no chance. Ran out of gas just outside of the security gates. Like you, at least I wasn't on the highway. Thank God for Triple A.

Gayle: I sure hope you find a job soon. All the best to you with that. When I was married, two of my exes were the food police. I was pretty thin too. My 2nd husband would order for me when we went to a restaurant. Can you believe it....I must of been some shy little bumpkin then because I wouldn't stand for it now. My third husband always commented on what I ate and what I purchased at the store even though I weighed about 125 pounds. I'm not as gullible as I was back then and now if I were married I'd tell him to buzz off and mind his own business, but then again, that may be a very short lived romance. Ha!

Karen: It was 91 degrees when I left work yesterday. The humidity is awful here. I can't believe you are having snow when most of the country is so warm right now. The pictures are nice and I hope you enjoy your first snowfall.

Lynn: I agree about the communication around here. I also tend to think when the weather turns colder and the sun doesn't shine as much people get depressed and turn inward. I'm sure they will eventually snap out of it and come back. Thank you for the offer Lynn. I'm safe for now but appreciate your concern. However, PA is a beautiful place.

Ali: I spoke to my sister yesterday who lives in Florida and she said it is in the 80's near Dearfield Beach where she lives.

Cat: Sorry about your back. I hope you get better soon.

The fires in Foothill Ranch are close to my house but I live in the city and not too much greenery to catch fire. Lots of smoke and the traffic is a nightmare where people are taking different routes because roads are closed. I work in Irvine and it is taking over an hour to go 10 miles. The smoke is terrible to breath and it's a shame people are losing their homes.

The military base in San Diego may have to evacuate. Some of those men just got back from Iraq and they are fighting fires on the front lines right now. The fires have forced 500,000 people from their homes so far and have destroyed over 1,300+ homes and thousands more at risk.

My brother lives near Lake Arrowhead and there are 1,500 homes in the line of fire there that are threatened. He is ill and has to have oxygen 24 hours a day and the smoke is really bothering him.

I attached a link below about a reporter reporting on his own home burning. How sad is that.

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2007/10/23/sot.ca.fires.himmel.kfmb



http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/23/wildfire.ca/index.html?iref=mpstoryview


PHOTOS:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/23/wildfire.ca/index.html?iref=mpstoryview#cnnSTCPhoto

http://www.cnn.com/

I've been seeing lots of stories about those terrible fires even on our news stations up here. Really, really terrifying. Hope everybody in your family comes through okay.

Omigawd, LindaD. How absolutely horrifying. These changes in weather patterns - the more extreme conditions are very, very concerning. I have to wonder what the earth will be like when my grandchildren are my age.
Keep safe, Linda, and I am hopeful, too, that all will be well with your family members. There was another woman who briefly posted here on GG's - a retired teacher, I believe - who lived up the coast a bit from you, Linda? Do you remember her? I hope she's doing okay, too.

Hugs, and DO take good care!

Z

Linda, I hope and pray you are not affected by this horrible situation, but if those fires are anywhere near, just to be on the safe side, I'd collect any momentos that could not be replaced such as pictures, your insurance papers, family heirlooms etc and get them all together in one place (like the trunk of your car) ahead of time. And if you have to leave, you KNOW that any of us would welcome you to come stay with us!!! Since K, the thing people seem the mourn the most is their pictures.

Linda D, hope the fire stays away from you. I'm sending thoughts and prayers your way. Please take care of yourself and stay safe.

Ali

Hi Everyone!

Maybe that Mercury Retrograde theory is the culprit, sounds good to me. Been busy with a dozen or so tangents (I call them rabbit trails) that seem to have dominated my time.

Preparing to throw a halloween party for the grandaughters this weekend involving around fifty kids. My plan is to host this nightmare outside & have stations they can go to.... face painting here, cupcake decorating there, baloon twisting, toss the something into the pumpkin, jump for doughnuts.... etc. Lots of candy & excedrin for the hostess. Pray for me.

So many wonderful people, where to start.

First! LINDA! Consider this one more invitation if you guys need a place to go. I like the idea of go ahead and pick out your things that you don't want to lose & stash them in the trunk. The fires are horrific & it's beyond sad to see so many people losing their homes. We sincerely hope your home stays intact. I can only imagine what the people with breathing problems are experiencing. Thinking of you.

ZOE! Size twelve! You're my hero & look terrific. Congratulations.

GAYLE! Arn't husbands just a riot! I'm learning that if I confide any problem at all to my dh he thinks that's the signal to give me 5 tons of advice. I guess that's decades of trying to be the tough guy that rescues the lady. Like Linda, there was a time in my life I would have meekly put up with that foolishness, try it now and the poor guy is going to get hurt. I like Lynn's advice, play silly music in your head when he cranks up the food advice. OR..... tell him thank you but you'd rather he kept his advice to himself. If he's like all the others he will sulk then forget whatever you tell him. These wonderful people have no memories at all I suspect. Hang in there & don't give up the job search, the one that makes you happy is really there.

KAREN it must look like a postcard over there, it sounds beautiful. Meant to tell you that Goofy (ie, Rocky the brown pom) got into dh's bathroom trash can & found the old spit out polydent. Try to imagine a little bitty lap dog with a mouth full of polydent, lips glued up in wierd directions. I have a friend that has a great dane who one day found a jar of vaseline.... it did funny things to his mouth too. I'll try to include a pic.

CAT, take care of that back. Back pain can stop us in our tracks & next to dental pain, can be a real annoyance. Served up your eggplant lasagna to the mob & it was wonderful, thank you! No left overs for lunches the following day. That's a sign of a winner.

Overall the family is staying on the eating & fitness plan here. The thing that has surprised me the most is DH is willing to hit the gym with me for some time running on the treadmill at 5:30 in the morning. If you knew this guy you'd understand why this is so uncharacteristic of him. Hmmmmm..... a wife can only wonder. Poor guy is having a midlife thing I suspect. He never accepted his fiftieth very well. Oh well I'm enjoying the workout.

Still doing the Jillian Michael Torture hour & starting to like the results. Have moved to a very solid size fourteen jeans.... those tens will come eventually. Yup, still doing Zumba & it's still fun.

Everyone take care & consider yourself hugged. Gotta get to work over here!
Marylynn

Good Morning Ladies:

The fires are still burning but moving farther away from my home. Last night I could stand in my front yard and watch the hills burn. I bought water, protein bars, etc. just in case we had to evacuate. All is well today. If anything changes, I have everything I need packed and I have my earthquake kit ready too.

The wind has shifted and I'm not in any danger. My brother lives near Running Springs and he is safe too. My friend was going to have to evacuate the Portola Hills/Foothill Ranch area because the fires were right next to her house but 5 planes came and put the fire out and the wind shifted and what's left of the fire is burning in the opposite direction. She was coming to my house to stay if it got any worse last night but today she is fine. If for some reason we both had to evacuate we were going to my friends house in San Clemente. Well, that has changed because now only one lane is open on the freeway between Dana Point and Oceanside and my friend lives right in the middle. Apparently, the military base in on fire now. So, now if anything were to happen I'll head to Newport Beach.

I heard on the news this morning that a motorcycle rider got off his bike and walked over to a hillside and set the hill on fire. A fireman happened to be in the area and saw him and the police caught him. I'll never understand why someone would deliberately try to cause such destruction. One thing that is so wonderful in all of this is that almost 1,000,000 have evacuated and there have been no riots and everything is calm at the shelters. They have clowns, a pumpkin patch for the kids, a place for pets where the owners can visit, full meals, a pharmacy has been set up with free medicine, counselors, etc. It's very well organized and done in a very short amount of time.

I'm going to see if I can help in some way. I'll probably go to San Diego and help volunteer there over the weekend if I can get there. I'm going to contact the city to see where I'm most needed. The winds aren't supposed to die down until this weekend and they think the fires will be under control by then.

Zoe: I don't remember the woman's name who lives near me but I do remember Gary. I think he's okay because he's in Dana Point which isn't on fire.....yet.

Cat: Thanks for the information. Sometimes you can forget to grab something when you're in a hurry. But really, I'm safe right now.

Ali: Thanks for the well wishes.

Linda: My family is fine. I feel so bad for the people that have lost everything they own. People say it's only material things but when you've lost photos, mementos of family, especially children, etc it's a hard pill to swallow.

Marylynn: You're going to have your hands full with 50 children but I bet it will be fun. I can hardly breath today. My sinuses (sp) are killing me. I carry a box of Kleenex everywhere I go. People at work are having the same problem and some are expriencing watering eyes. They look like they are crying. This can't be good for a person.

If anything changes with the fires around here I'll keep you posted.

Talk to you soon. Have a great day!!!

Glad to hear that you're ok. Hope the wind dies down soon.
Lyn

Hi gang . . .

I'm having a strange, strange day and we are havinbg strange, strange weather too -- still mild, but very overcast. We had a nasty rainstorm last night (one of my neighbours lost a major tree).

So wish I could send all our rain to you LINDA . . . . . . glad to hear you are out of danger.

Nothing else exciting around here . . . took JAZZ in to the Vet this morning for another glucose curve and haven't heard anything from them yet which is a little unusual since it is now after 4 pm. Hopefully no news is good news.

See you later everybody . . .

Hi everyone..im slowly recovering from this flu cold thingy.. sure has zapped my energy and makes me cranky..maybe i just need a good night of sleep..those fires in california are tragic hope those of you who live there or have family stay safe..what would u take if u only had min to get out,, we s
hould all think of the answer and hope we never have to use "our plan"..Marylynn your party sounds like such fun.. i do things like that too in fact i did a huge b-day party for my grkids and friends.. we had games and a scavenger hunt and relay races.. they had a blast and pooped me out..Gayle. my dh does the same thing..and it can still hurt and make me angry.. i have to remember he means well.. and hes a guy stick to what works for you.. to all and those i have missed.. am still getting to know you all..by the way i did weigh this am and have lost 5#'s i guess i broke my plateau but wouldn't recommend the method.. stay healthy everyone ttfn rosey ps these pictures are a view from my back door and daisy in the snow

HI GOLDEN GIRLS

WOW Linda I am so glad you are safe. I have another friend in Beaumont that has been keeping us up to date. She says the wind is wicked and all the dust and dirt is horrible. Fire is one of my biggest fears so I am just on edge seeing the reports about this horror.

Zoe - yep good old climate change -- how can anyone disregard it any more???

I am sorry I have been remiss what with October starting so fabulous for me -- its been nothing but down hill from there. The pinched nerve in my neck and shoulder is still causing me grief -- my doctor is sending me for a Cat Scan. My other condition is flaring up -- but I don't dare complain the other alternative was cancer so flare ups are annoying but not deadly. Then on the weekend I got a horrible cold -- my sweet fiance was so kind to share with me -- add to that the fact I think I am finally hitting menopause its been one frikken horrid month -- health wise. Currently with my cold I have little or no desire to eat and when I do all I want is pasta, rice and bread. I was telling some friends if I keep this up I will most likely be mistaken for a whale on the beach in Maui. ARGHHHHHH and I only have one year (little less now) to get into a regular size 14 for my wedding.

Calgon take me away!!!!!!!!!!!!

I lost my last post....Don't know what my computer decided to do....

I'm flying by again. I have not felt too well for a week. I finally called my doctor and had a biopsy yesterday. I won't get the results until later this week. I'm counting my blessings now!!!

LINDAD---I'm praying that you remain safe. Be careful.

ZOE---I, too, love your writing. I was so jealous to find that you are fitting into size 12 pants I haven't seen size 12 pants for a few decades.

GAYLE---I also have a "helpful" dh. He retired 10 years ago. Every now and then he starts to provide his sage advice and I give him the LOOK. You know the one, the look clearly says "If you say one more thing......" Sometimes it works for a few hours...If I'm especially powerful with the LOOK it will work for days!!! Now that I'm facing retirement within a few years, I'm not too sure that this house is large enough for both of us. I hope you get the job that you want.

LYNN---I'm glad to hear that your pain has lessened.

Like I said previously this is a fly by!!!! to all that I did not specifically mention.

Tomorrow is weigh in. I'm expecting water weight due to my medical issues! But I'm going to continue to fight this weight!!!

TTFN,

Trish

Linda,

Your post made me cry. First because it is wonderful that people are doing so much good for the folks in CA. Second because of the contrast between what is happening with the CA evacuees vs. what happened with the New Orleans evacuees.

So much tragedy for so many people - both in CA and in NO. And then - someone setting more fires! How absolutely horrible!

My thoughts and prayers are with you and your family, friends, neighbors.

Please let us know if there is any way we can help.

Lynn