Cherry of the thick lush strawberry hair! How GAWJUS!!!! Kiwi I fail to see the fatness you proclaim to suffer from.. you are purty and a healthy weight me thinks!

Don't know if its the firewall or router or what..many conne tion problems today... it's taken me forever to write this

Well it's a rainy Friday afternoon and I am shortly going to get ready to go out for an evening of fun and hilarity. Or food and music. Maybe all 4. We're meeting sailing buddies and their visiting kin from Australia for Thai food, then we're going to a concert of flute music by Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull), then maybe drinks at the Sea Dog. All this will involve driving of an hour and a half on each end of the evening, so I might bow out early because I have to leave the dog home from 4:00 on. I think 8 hours is probably her limit.

DH is going to spend the rest of the weekend on the sailboat, so he is staying overnight with the friends in their RV. I am heading back home because I want to take Jet to an obedience clinic tomorrow. It's too cold to enjoy the boat anyway, and he's getting it ready to be pulled out of the water on Monday. I will miss some of the socializing, but I won't really miss it.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

Got an email today from the new secretary of the hs performing arts boosters containing the minutes of the last meeting (I was the sec'y for 2 years and am now just helping out on big events). Made me want to either take the job back or complain. Guess I won't do either, but I don't think I can leave one of the mistakes alone -- she wrote that 4th grade band members were going to be able to take recording lessons this year. Should have been that 4th graders will be learning the recorder instead of starting band this year. I guess if you weren't a music person this would be a meaningless distinction, but if you are a music person it's absurd.

I like correcting things, but I hate correcting people. Know what I mean? I always feel really bad when I give in to temptation and correct someone. On the other hand, in this case I could merely offer a suggestion to "amend the minutes". I had a few of those come in when I was sec'y. It made me feel a little defensive, but I got over it.

Ever feel not ill-equipped for the real world?

Kiwi

Everything takes me forever to write, Schatzi! Haha I fooled you with my photo camoflage -- a man on each side is the perfect camo. Healthy weight, nope -- I weigh the same as did the day before I gave birth. Not so good.

Hmmm. I always feel ill equipped for the real world. Why else would I agree to sit in this office all day every day?

I'm counting down the minutes until I can eat my lunch. Eleven o'clock is the earliest I allow myself to eat.

I'm having the worst visit ever w/ dear Aunt Flo. Damn her.

Kiwi, that sounds like a lot of driving for a good time. I guess that's part of the bargain when you live waaaay up in the deep woods, huh?

Indeed, that is true. Don't remind me how incredibly convenient everything is in your area (my dietitian friend who moved there reminds of that regularly). I suppose one advantage here is that you don't bother to spend a whole lot of money because it's too much trouble.

Aunt Flo shoulda croaked by now. Damn her indeed.

kiwi

Death to Aunt Flo!!!----she keeps arriving later and later here which is nice,except the NOT knowing when she may show up. How do you book a pap with that kind of schedule???? enough of that crap---this weekend is the Annual Fall Foliage Tour I take with my autumn loving friend---i know you will all await with baited breath for your pics that i will bore you with !!!! how many times can you look at a red maple leaf??? i hope we find some orange ones--they are my favourite!!!----hope you had a grand time at your party miss kiwonkers-----hope your weekend sees the end of that misery,miss wabby---hello miss shatz---good to see you back!! hi cherry-hi sugar,hi peachpie-------------stay tuned!!!!

ohhhhhhhhhhh i am thrilled--i managed to upload one of last years pictures as an avatar!!!! yee haa---i love the fall!!!

there have been pictures here. how wonderful !!! You are all so wonderful.

I have been having my usual exciting life. Yawn. I can barely bring my hands out of my life to type as I can think of nothing.

Today is the first day of my new routine of working at the supermarket one day a week. This means I get tomorrow off. How long has it been since I had a Sunday off (not counting taking DS to college?) .... February is the answer.

I am too bored with myself.

That's purtypurtypurty, Bagz. And your mad puter skillz are impressive! Of course I want foliage peectures, load me up!

When's your new job start, Peachie? I'm glad you have Sunday off. Nobody should work on Sunday. Have you met the little 4 year old darlings? Where are you going to be, a pre-school?

I have been out on a dog-walk this morning. An hour and a half. I feel so virtuous. The weather is gorgeous, still Indian summer -- how lucky!!

The Ian Anderson concert was awesome!! It was very different from what I expected. There was a lot of Jethro Tull music, although a good bit of it was different type arrangements than the originals. Not a lot of "ear-bleeding" music as they described it. But at least half of the concert was entirely different; a whole lot of fascinating stuff. They had a chamber orchestra from N.E. Conservatory (almost all young women) backing up their old-guy band. They did some interesting reworkings of classical music that were fantastic, and he had a guest violinist, a woman who looked like a college student herself but is actually a physics professor ; she had all the men drooling and making fools of themselves. She was also the perfect foil for Ian Anderson's goofy mannerisms. He is one strange little man. Although heaven on earth on the flute. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Yesterday I was in the Big City to go to a dog obedience clinic "Walking on a Leash Politely" -- I'm not sure it was worth the trip. When we started, the guy leading the session asked if he could use Jet as a demo, and after trying for a few minutes he gave up and gave her back to me. She hadn't the slightest interest in the yummy liver treats he was trying to use to get her attention -- mainly because there were 7 other dogs there Yippee Lemme at em!!!! Well, it made me laugh anyway, but we got a few pointers and things to work on, lord knows if it will make any difference. She is so strong now, even though she's only 40 pounds she can actually pull me right over if I'm not prepared.

Anyway, after that I went to the mall, and I didn't really have anything I needed to do. DH was out sailing on the coast with the other people we went to the concert with. So I called DD to see if she wanted me to do any shopping for her. She was sitting on Boston Common with BF and BFtwin and their older brother, listening to live music. They had been touring Boston all day and were taking a breather before going out to dinner. She and BF had gone to Filene's basement (I didn't even know that was still in existence; all the Filene's stores have been turned into Macy's ), and she'd gotten a much needed pair of jeans (she says her best pairs are too big, yes too big, for her now ), so she couldn't think of anything she needed. So I went to the bookstore and then headed home. When I got home, there was a voice message from DD saying to give her a call sometime. I wondered when she left that, so I listened to it again -- it was at 5:18, and you could hear someone singing in the background. I thought that was odd, that was right around the time I talked to her and it sounded just like the music I could hear when I talked to her. So I checked my cellphone and sure enough, I had called her at 5:19. I figured the times were a little off and she had called me right after we hung up or something, so I called her again, and she said she'd left me that message only a minute before I called. She thought I'd gotten it and had called right back. How spooky is that???? I'd love to think we are that in-tune with each other, but I don't really believe it! Made my day, though.

Kiwi

I am envious of kiwi's Gilmore-girls relatioship with dd. There's a young woman at the supermarket who went to a different college from ds. When the 2 schools played football, she went to Gainesville to watch it on tv with another young woman who worked at our store. She was in town this weekend (working at the supermarket) and told me she saw ds at the mall with lcp.

I was hurt and angry. I called ds later and told him it upset me to get just a sentence or two from him and hear the real stories from other people. "I wanted to see her so I brought her up," he said. I told him there was nothing wrong with that but I'd like to know what my son's life is like.

Then he told me he joined the fencing club. Sigh. That's the last I'll hear of the fencing club.

What happened to that sweet docile little grey-legged puppy from Jet's litter? She's probably walking happily on leashes and accompanying her owners on trips to china shops.

The job starts tomorrow. I am anxious about it. Hold my hand.

Doesn't Kiwiette know about the Freshman-15?

Hmm, I'd love to believe that. Truth is I can't get her to answer an email, even when I ask questions that need answers ASAP. She is good about calling a couple of times a week and she's easy to get hold of, so we manage to keep tabs on what she's up to. The truth is that part of our advantage is the example of the BF's family, who all talk to each other every day or so, and visit each other regularly. If she had not gotten to know them, I suspect she would find it a real burden to keep in touch with us. After all, I only talk to my family every few weeks, and DH speaks to his, who live 10 miles away from us, maybe once a week at the most.

Yeah, really. I'm so jealous. Turns out that dancing 4 nights a week is helpful for keeping the weight off. She's taking a dance class (Kathak Dance from northern India) for credit and also joined the Irish dance club which practices twice a week. She says she eats like a pig, although a couple of days a week she doesn't get to regular meals because of her schedule. Ah, to be young.

I took fencing when I was in college. I was awful.
Ah, Diva. Don't remind me! You are probably right! At least I didn't bring home the nervous shy one (Yellow). Sometimes that is more dangerous than boisterous bull-in-china-shop types like Jet.

Good luck on the job. I look forward to hearing about it. Think of all those trusting little heads looking to you for affection.

Kiwi

DD is Stunnink in the Avatar Kiwi.. Ian Anderson..what a hoot.. yes indeed a strange little man .. We saw him at the Beacon theater post Tull, and I think in the off season of sheep herding... I think that's what he did then... herd and shear sheep methinks anyway--yes a master on that flute!!!
I think Jet is and will be the most devoted dog to you Kiwi!



Cowie- the little ones will just adore you ! You must tell us all about your first day! And darlink, don't forget that not only is DS a young adult/teen away from home for the first time but is of the Male persuasion... I just saw a Primetime or Dateline special on the differences in male and female brains and chemical composition..Fascinating! indeed, the male is an alien being..

Bagz I plan on many a sugar maple on my propurty.. I just love how they turn orange and red orange..my favorite! The colors are just startin to change here..I hope fer a colorful fall... we had lots of rain this year..so I hope to be stunned..

Another weekend spent slogging though woods... we found a 10 acre plot that looks to be near purfect... I wish it had more trees on it ... but I guess it will be less $$ to clear it.. and I will plant them sugar maples,,, and aspens.. Next time we go out to the property I'll take some pics.. It's going to be a small community of about 22 homes - each with a minimum of 10 acres..
We'll see what happens next...but now every plot of land is beginning to look the same ...

Did we miss Canadian Thanksgiving? Oddly enough it doesn't seem to be on any of my calendars ! Well I hope it was lovely if we did.

Hope Peachie's first day was fun or at least problem free. Come tell us! I for one am waiting with bated breath. And you know how unpleasant bated breath can get after a while

Schatzi, I'm always amazed to hear that people are constructing developments on 10 acre apiece lots. Sounds lovely, but what do you do with the extra space, when you live in a development? Don't all developments end up with all those restrictions, like no livestock, no businesses, no this no that? Maybe not.

Later gators
Kiwi

Nope, we haven't missed it Kiwi, it's Oct. 9th. Still time to send a pumpkin pie to the northland.

I'm jealous of Schatzi land's acreage subdivisions. Rarely happens here, unless it was land that was subdivided in the early 80's. Around here, it's all about high density housing. Apparently the higher ups thought all the farm land was getting gobbled up, so they put into effect extremely strict land use laws. It's possible to build a new house on acreage, but you can't believe the hoops you have to jump through. Will you be allowed to have critters on your property, Schatz, or is that restricted?

Re: sugar maples ---- I planted a bunch of them along our property line about 15 years ago. They were little twigs I bought for a buck a piece @ the Arbor Day Foundation sale. Now they're big gorgeous trees that are probably about 25 ft. tall. It will really, really break my heart if they mow down my trees when we move. For some reason one of them always turns red and loses it's leaves in September and the rest wait until October. Maybe I'll email you back some foliage photos of my trees, Bagzie.

Lord, I used to love Jethro Tull back in the day.....

My WW recipe for the day---- Mix 1 15 oz. can pumpkin w/ one box spice cake mix & 1/3 C. water. Spoon batter into 24 muffin cups. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. .............. 2 WW points and all those lovely vitamins that pumpkin has ........... supposed to be good for breakfast. I'll make them and report back to you.

Can't wait for the blow by blow on Peaches first day of work!!!!

Wow, that sounds really good, Wabby, and so simple!! I have been thinking about spice cake lately, I can't remember why. I think I need to buy some....

Kiwi