Charin

Michele "uniball" - oh you are such a mean, mean owner! Poor Dewey will be traumatized for life and will have to be placed in a more caring loving home .

But seriously he'll forget all about this in another couple of days and be bouncing around.

Shannon on the run! Sometimes you just gotta move!

Allison Cheese, crackers, and chips? Three of my favourite food groups! All that's missing is the beer

I had a fine Friday and am now looking forward to using my new mini-vacuum on Laffie and then outfitting him with his new seat covers!

I sound about 1 million years old to be doing that on a Friday night but DH and I are going kayaking at the crack of dawn tomorrow and I want to get the car done!

Good evening all and TGIF

Dagmar

So DH helped me install Laffie's seat covers last night. I couldn't have done it alone. They didn't fit so well and the installation was tricky and needed two people. But we got it done. It's the first time in a long time we have done a project together without a big argument.

The covers themselves are of a good quality material and have a foam backing. They will offer good protection from all the day-to-day dog wear and tear.

I like them. I hope the "dog" towels will "stick" to them better than to Laffie's existing slippery upholstery.

My package from Banana Republic also arrived last night (fall wardrobe). The dress I bought is gorgeous! And the quality is really, really good, both in terms of material and sewing.

I have been sulking and eating and thought the size 8 would be a tight squeeze. It's too BIG! I went back online and all the size 6's are sold out. I will take a look in the local stores to see if I can find one. If not I can have the size 8 altered.

This gave me a real boost to eat clean again and cut out the beer and chips. I can look gorgeous in this dress but I have to do it justice by feeling self-confident and pretty while wearing it.

That comes from eating clean, working out, and staying away from the caffeine and diet pop.

Time to get ready for paddling.

Good Saturday all!

Dagmar

So I'm here Upstate, having listened to four consecutive CDs of Tom Venuto's "The Bodyfat Solution" while driving up here. He's unemotional and logical about weight loss as Spock, so for me a lot of the time it's like listening to an alien life form talk about weight loss.

After dinner, when I sprawled on the love seat and kicked off my Dansko clogs, my mother's cat investigated them -- the clogs, I mean -- and began practically making love to them. Why? Probably they smell like sweaty feet. He really was all over them. I had to call my mother over to see. I knew dogs liked things that stink but had no idea cats felt the same.

Anyway the cat climbed all over me and rubbed me all last night. He even stood on my pillow and licked and "groomed" my hair, which must taste like chemical gel, poor creature. It feels good to be loved up by an animal & I totally get why so many of you have dogs. I'm going through the "Maybe I should get a cat" thing again, even though I know I settled this in the negative many months ago as I reviewed my schedule and saw how lonely it would be.

Hi all,

I made my second trip to the Honda dealership in the city today to get my passenger seat belt replaced. It was a long drive, but the replacement was free because Honda warranties their seatbelts for the life of the car - nice! (Sorry Dagmar, only for normal wear and tear, this doesn't apply if dogs chew through them.) I stopped for a few errands, but was eager to get home and do a little bit of weekend relaxing. My cable was cut off 2 weeks ago and I haven't replaced it yet, but I haven't minded at all. I spend my evenings walking on the beach with Emma and reading some good books.

Saef, Emma loves it when I come home sweaty, sandy, covered in sunblock from work. It's all 3 things she loves to lick off humans at once! (Disclaimer: I do try to keep her away from my newly lotioned or sunblocked, etc. skin. I'm sure the chemicals aren't good for her.) Animals are weird like that..

Dagmar, hope you had fun kayaking. Can you post a picture or a link to your new dress?

Oh Michele, uniball.

Hi Charin, welcome!

Emma has informed me that it's her dinner time. Must dash. Heaven forbid we should wait 5 minutes.

http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse...d=1&pid=858864

I think this will work. The dress looks much better on me (!) than the model (I think) and the colour is a lot less dried-blood like. The material is a real taffeta with a gorgeous hand and the dress actually has a "crinoline" layer.

Dagmar

I like the dress but I wouldn't have expected it to be taffeta by the description.
When I was young ( and I was , once ) even though we were not wealthy my mother always made sure I had an Easter dress and a Christmas dress. I seem to remember a lot of taffeta.

This is a truly gorgeous dress, Dagmar. I don't think I've ever owned anything in taffeta, but was just admiring some at the antique show: a light blue with purplish lights, and a deep blue with peacock green lights. Iridescence is so beguiling in anything, from inside a mussel shell to a length of fabric, even to a Japanese beetle's back. I didn't know there was a Mad Men collection of clothing, but there were often outfits on the show that I thought were simply ravishing. Betty and Joan got most of the best ones, but Roger's young wife had some nice stuff, as did Pete's wife. (I missed this past season -- I'm one season behind.)

saef The silly thing is that I don't watch "Mad Men". I tried to once or twice but DH heckled so badly that I gave up. Love the clothes though - seem to be made for curvy types like me.

This is probably TMI but I think your mom's cat might be doing a little bit of territorial behaviour with you. If his mouth was open and he looked quite demented while smelling your clogs that's called the "flehmen". Cats do that when they are sizing up a rival or a mate . The subsequent rubbing would be territorial marking and the licking would be acceptance and hence grooming of you. Now he's probably cuddling with you and enjoying every minute of it.

I get this from my guys whenever I come back from vacation. I'm away for 10 days and they have to re-establish their relationship with me (they are not the brightest cats in the world).

At least they don't pee on me or my suitcase. I have two clients' cats to thank for all my new luggage over the years.

Enjoy your vacation!

Dagmar

Dagmar - I love the dress!

Saef - my cat does that to me sometimes, too. Funny to read Dagmar's description of possible cause...

Megan - glad you got your seatbelt fixed - no compromise for safety.

My MIL lost her job on Thursday so we've been at her house all afternoon looking at her financial situation. She is much better off than a lot of people in her situation. It makes me look down the road to retirement and scares me a little at how unprepared I am.

For all you younger folks who aren't thinking about retirement. I used to say, oh, I'll just work forever and not retire. But then one day I realized that the time would come when I did not want to work anymore, or even when I could not work anymore.

And now that I'm within a few years of "retirement age," I'm sorry that I didn't get serious about retirement savings sooner. Even ten years sooner would have made a big difference. No big inheritance windfall coming from my parents, either.

So Shannon, and anyone who feels the same: There is no time like the present. Don't wait until time is running out.

Jay

I just "dodged a major bullet" in the words of one of my dad's neighbours.

We had a huge violent thunderstorm about 2 hours ago, complete with waves of rain whipping around, huge cracks of thunder, and torrential downpour.

I was at my dad's house doing a little yard maintenance. I ran into the house as the huge storm started and stayed there for it. I went out briefly on the front porch but the water was whipping around and got me wet. I was on the phone with DH for the last of it, and commenting how the power had gone out and my dad had no candles, flashlight, etc.

I walked out and almost hurled when I looked at Laffie parked on the street. Huge tree limb on the road - on top of his rear? I called DH back and he advised me to go and look for damage and then call him. He would hurry over with the camera and the life insurance contact #'s if there was.

The limb had literally missed Laffie by the proverbial whisker. There were little twig branches pushed up against his hatch but no damage. The tree limb spanned the entire roadway.

It took 3 of my neighbours (all fairly strong big guys) to lift the branch off the road. Being the girlfriend of a contractor I was able to provide two handsaws to cut it into more manageable pieces. I was also able to measure the diameter of the limb (having a tape measure in my car at all times) at it's largest point and it was 10". Monstrous!

OMG. I wanted to and everyone there. Instead I helped pick up all the smaller branches littering the road and got into Laffie and drove him home. Hands slightly shaking all the while.

I did manage to avoid going to the nearest grocery store and buying cookies and ice cream to celebrate Laffie's near miss. That made me a little sad - that I still would have that reaction to extremes of emotion - but I did not sucuumb.

Nor will I tonite. I will put on my "party" undies, my "Betty" dress, and my heels and go downstairs and take a long look in the mirror and be happy!

Dagmar

Whew! Close on Dagmar. Glad Laffie, and you and dad's house, are all ok. The BR link is telling me "sorry, this item is out of stock" and I can't see your dress, so I will just use my imagination. You will have to post a photo of you in it so I can see it!

There's actually been a hint of cool in the air for the past few days, which is quite unusual for August in Florida. Ok, "cool" is probably like 90 degrees instead of 95, 70% humidity instead of 89%, but my standards are quite different in the summertime! It's actually been pleasant to be outside and Emma has been spoiled by extra long walks this weekend. She's sleeping on my feet right now. I actually worked today so I have Monday off. I will try to be somewhat productive and clean my carpets.

Good evening all!