Kieran and Cyndi, I'll be thinking of you both come Thursday and Friday and sending good vibes your way. I agree with Jen, though, that the worse part is not knowing.

Thanks for the congratulations, everyone. Kieran, you are right, I was a child bride. I was 17 when we were married in 1969.

In November 2007 it was announced that our facility in Tucson was shutting down and we would all be loosing our jobs. Of course the product still needed to be manufactured so we all needed to stay as long as possible and help transfer all the processes to other plants in the company. Due to this and the pending loss of insurance it became necessary to stop putting off surgery that I needed so in February I had my right knee replaced and will have my left replaced in May so it was critical that I stay employed as long as possible. Well thanks to the down turn in the economy in January corporate offered early retirement packages further reduce jobs across the rest of the company. Low and behold several position were vacated that needed to be refilled so I interviewed and was offered one of the openings. It will require I relocate to Texas but that feels better then starting over in a new company after 20 years. Kieran and Cyndi, I wish you both the very best but just keep in mind you don’t know where these announcements will take you, it may be down a path you wouldn’t have considered before.

Hi Friends!

My new job is seriously cutting into my computer time, but I won't complain. Kieran and Cyndi, I'm sending good karma your way!

Me4Life, Making boots for Marines sounds great!

Cottage, Happy Anniversary! On my 40th anniversary, I'll be 75.

Me: The new job is going well. My 'boss' was in the office today for the first time since I've been there. He had major heart surgery 8 weeks ago. He's been cleared to come back to work two days a week. He seems very nice.

I have a funny Auston story. DH was telling him about the cool TransAm he had in high school. It was gun-metal gray with red interior. (Yes, he had a mullet, too. ) Auston was telling me about the cool race car. He said, "Daddy's car was 'damn-hammer gray'." I laughed till tears ran down my cheeks!