Angie, here in jmy area, only the tatoo places do them. Some of the tatoo parlors won't let kids in, even with a parent. Make sure you go somewhere reputable. Belly button rings have a tendancy to heal slowly and to get infected easily so be vigilant about cleaning it and watching for signs of trouble. Good luck!

Thanks Serina. I think it would be gross to have done but looks so good when they are in. I had no idea they healed slow. Yuck. Jay will have to go in with her because I almost passed out when she had her ears done.

Kempy, I hope you are feeling better soon.

Noelle, It was 90 here today. Holy cow!! I even went into the pool! Of course it is gonna rain this week. I hope the weather man is wrong. haha

Sandy, Where are you?

Good Morning! It is cloudy but still pretty warm today. The black flies are out like crazy. Jay is draining the pool down to where it was this winter so maybe we can figure out why we are losing water easier. It sucks becuase I just spent 120 to open it and then we lost all the water so guess what? I get to do it all over again when we fix the problem. EEEK!

Morning! It is cloudy here too but I can only wish for rain. I just finished witha flower bed, I don't want it to die. I know I can water but it looks so much better when it gets rained on. I guess all of the stuff that is in rain water really helps the plants.

Angie that is one of the reasons I would never want a pool. If something goes wrong it is expsensive to fix it. I hope it is nothing major. I am still enviouse that you have the time and energy to have a pool and I will be really jealous in June when I can't go outside here and you are sitting in your pool.

I am doing a little better today. I can button my pants! I am still crampy right at my bikini line though. I talk to the massage therapist and she is going to work on it for me. Maybe she can move that stuff around and get it out of my system. I think if that was gone I would be ok. Until this thing leaves I can't go to the gym. I am scared to do anything to strenuous. I am going to walk Echo when I get off though. (if it isn't raining)

Wow, I missed a whole day!!!

Yesterday ended up being busy for me. I got up, got the kids off to school, then decided to shower and go to Walmart which is about 30 minutes away. So I went shopping all by myself and had a good time. I ended up buying 2 new pairs of capris and 2 wide strap tanks, 2 shirts for hubby and a pr of shorts for my son. Nothing for Lexi this trip? HUMMMMM.....lol, shes spoiled believe me!!! I got an airconditioner for the bedroom too, so now we will have 2 and that should do the whole house. I also bought a cheapy digital camera......so I'm trying to learn how to use it....LOL and will post a pic of the kids when I get a minute and can make this blonde head of mine work....LOL

Food is okay, think Im still on the wagon. Yesterday I ate more than normal, but not junk at all so I think it was okay.

Kempy: Hope your belley is feeling better.

Noelle: Hope your cold is better, but yes please continue to get all the sympathy you can from hubby.....

Angie: You help me every single day!!! Don't ever think your not helping....you inspire me so much. I am at where you once were and it gives me hope that I will one day be where you are now. I told my mom about you the other day, and she was like, just get in the car and go see her....LOL....so we will have to make plans some day. I mean we live only 2 1/2 hours or so apart, this is totally possible....and would be so neat.

Talk to you girls later...

Hey girls, just popping in to say hello. Killing time before my appointment w/the manicurist . Hump day for sure. My son's teacher told me he was coughing a lot during lunch yesterday and that he felt warm. Oops, I forgot the Tylenol before school, bad mom! The cough medicine lasts about 4 hours and they let him run wild on the playground before lunch when I told them to keep him inside ... so that's where the excessive coughing comes in. How do you keep a 4 y.o. still anyway? I suppose I should keep him home for a few days to let him recover fully but you know how those coughs sometimes linger? Anyway, I'm feeling pretty good myself, cough is clearing up nicely though if I don't take my meds I have a major frog in my throat.

Sandy, a shopper after my own heart. My family jokingly calls me the "walmart" shopper. I go there at least twice a week, and if I don't go there on a weekend that's very unusual. See my problem is is that I don't make a list when I shop and then I always forget to buy something that I needed, then I have to go back. I know what you mean about spoiling the kids w/clothes/toys, etc. I think if I had a daughter (which I'm working on ) the clothes situation would be worse than it is w/my son. As it is, he has enough clothes for 3 or 4 kids. I need to cut back, big time. Oh yeah, I think it would be neat if you could meet up w/Angie. I had a chuckle though, if I drove 2.5 hours anywhere on this island I'd end up going around the whole thing 2.5 times! That's how small this rock is.

Angie hope you can find out what's wrong w/the pool. I can't believe you guys hit 90 degrees! Weren't you guys just in the 60's? I don't know how I'd act if we had that kind of variation day to day. The most we get is 20-25 degrees difference, night and day.

Kempy hope that massage gets the gunk out of your system. Hooray on the buttoned pants . I was thinking, what's the best time of year to visit LA? I don't want to go there in the summer where the temps and humidity are sky high, Is fall a good time? When the temps are cooling down but it's still a bit warm? I have 2 sisters that have major wanderlust and I was telling them we should go back to New Orleans since I didn't have a chance to really get out and visit all that I wanted to.

One last thing, who do ya think? Ruben or Clay? Or don't you care? I don't really care either way, I think both of them are great. I think it's a bit eerie the way Ruben reminds me of Luther Vandross...anyone hear what's up w/Luther? Is he still in a coma? Maybe if he passes, he'll be reincarnated as Ruben Studdard .

Noelle: Not much driving there then huh? Does it cost much to hop a plane or boat to go to another Island to visit, or just to get away?

Humm now??????Ruben or Clay?????? They are both really good, so I have a hard time picking, but If I had to, I think I would pick Ruben....he's just such a big Teddy Bear...and I love his voice....

I think I would pick Clay. He is a little more marketable to me. Although he does sound like he should be on Broadway. I loved the first song that he sang, even though Randy and Paula didn't like it. What do they know.

Sandy I can drive 2 1/5 hours and be in Florida at the beach. I know if I had been chatting with someone for awhile and they lived close I would deffinetly go see them. I think it would be really cool. I mean I like the person on the site I am sure I would get along with them in person.

Angie I am at 90 right now. They say it is only going to be 85 over the weekend. WOW!! A low temp and low humidity? Who would have thought that was possible in south LA in May?

Noelle this weekend would be good. I wouldn't come in the summer you are right about that. Maybe September or October would be a good time. I hope that if you do come my way we can get together. Maybe you and your sisters can come to my house for a BBQ. I am only about 30-45 minutes away from New Orleans. The interstate runs right to my town so it is a no-brainer drive.

I think it would be cool if we could all meet up on a vacation sometime. I would love to meet all of you in person. I already feel like I know you so well.

Sandy, I was trying to get my mom,sis and moms best friend together to go overnight to Portland on a shopping spree but we couldn't pick a date and now my sis has to have surgery this summer to remove an ovarian tumor or cyst so now I don't know when we will be going. I was going to try to meet you then. She is actually looking forward to the surgery so she can have the summer off from work so maybe I will still get to go. How far from Portland are you? I wished we lived near each other so we could hang out and walk together and stuff.

Noelle, I still want to go to Hawaii so bad. Every time I see a pic I always say to Jay how lucky you are to see that beautiful scenery everyday. He is into volcanos too. He would like to actually see one.

Kempy, It is really windy out right now and dark. I think we are going to get a thunderstorm. I am trying to decide if I should do the other 3 miles now or wait until later and hope it doesn't rain.

Oh yeah, I think I am going to change my goal weight to 135. I know I should still weigh less for my height but I stayed there longer than 130 so I figured since I am comfy right now then 135 should feel great. Maybe when i hit it I will try to go lower but it is birthday time all summer so there are going to be parties every month and I don't want to depress myself too bad by not being allowed to enjoy them. We usually go to Weathervane for me and the twins birthday and I want to take Jay out for his birthday. We have June 16 my neice B-day, June 17, my parents anniversary, June 18, Jays b-day,June 28, my dad's B-day.
July 1,me,mom,twins B-day.July 8, my uncles B-day.August 12 my cousin and his son's b-day, August 25, me and Jays anniversary. Lots of celebrations with tons of ice cream cake. hehe

Angie,
I'm like half way from your house to Portland. So, anyway that would be great to meet up sometime, or we could just meet sometime...that would be cool too. I can always drive to you...LOL and make a day of it. I don't mind driving at all, so long as I have good directions.

I think we talked about this before....My anniversary is August 26th, the day after yours...LOL too cool.

That is cool. I always consider my anniversary present that the kids usually start school on that day.

I would love to meet you!! It would be cool.

Angie I meant to tell you that one of the instructors that works here has a birthday of July 1. The make it just a little weirder.... I was born at 3:10 PM she was at 3:15 PM (exactly one year apart), her name is Cathy and her boyfriend is Joey, I am Kempy and hubby is Joe. That just sounds so weird. Oh yeah, my brothers b-day is June 29, the day after your dad. I guess we are closer than we thought.

Hey gals. To answer a few questions...

Sandy the price of inter-island plane fare has risen dramatically over the past couple of years. We only have 2 airline carriers that compete so their rates go up several times a year and one or the other is always on the verge of bankruptcy...right now it costs about $78 one way to another island, the closest island to Honolulu where I am is Kauai, which is probably a 20 min. plane ride. The farthest from me is Hawaii (The Big Island) which is a 45 min-55 min. plane ride. So if I took my family of 3 for an island getaway weekend, it would cost me about $468 just for airfare! Not cheap by any means. That airfare's already half of what it would cost just to fly me to Bangkok to go shopping and I think you know where I'd rather go. So that was the long answer to your question. I don't know of any boat charters that actually hire out to take people to other islands. I can't imagine that it would be any cheaper than flying, but maybe you could do some great fishing on the trip out. Once every few years our whole family goes to an outerisland. It's been a while, I think the last time we went to Kauai together was in 1997, when Princess Di died. This year over the 4th of July weekend we're planning on going to Maui. Yup, it's a great place to live, expensive as heck, but very beautiful.

Funny thing though, i keep telling Rick that I want to travel to the East coast. The farthest east I've been is Chicago, IL and south to New Orleans, but I want to see New England--so different from anything I've ever lived in. And now I've got 2 reasons to want to go there--Angie and Sandy .

Angie I think adjusting your goal is fine. If you're comfortable where you're at now, you can diet down to 135 and you'll have that much leeway as a comfort zone. I read somewhere that "thin people" take action against weight gain when it fluctuates up to 5 lbs. Me, (as a genetically predisposed fat person), I don't worry unless it goes beyond 10 . I guess that's where my problem is, huh? I have some funny (to me) news. My sister that's closest in age to me--the toothpick skinny one that eats junk food all the time--she went for her annual check up last week and she found that she gained 10 lbs over the last year! She now weighs 126 lbs. Sheesh! She's about 5'5" so that's a healthy weight for her, but in high school she was only around 85-90 lbs...and after giving birth to 2 kids she still was only 110-115. So there is justice in this world. Yeah, make my sis gain a little weight will ya? hehe. The lowest weight I got to was 131, and at 5'3" I felt skeletal! Oh well, no danger of that happening anytime soon.

Kempy that BBQ is a must do if we're ever in town. I'll put that bug in their heads if we don't do Bangkok or Disneyland/Vegas.

So will someone please tell me (when it's over) who won the darn American Idol contest???? Please please please?

Sandy, You know that would be great if you could come up some day after we get the pool fixed and the kids could all go swimming and we could hang out. That would be fun. Or shopping would be fun too. The repair guy is coming Saturday morning so I have my fingers crossed that he can fix it. I don't really want to have to buy a totally new liner. I really have to overcome my fear of driving. It isn't so much the straight driving as it is the parking and different lanes and stuff. I am a wuss!! I know what it is. I hate to have people stare at me and I am afraid I will do something wrong or cause an accident and get stared at.

Kempy, that is weird with your friends birthday and yours. so close, names too. Brittany was born on my cousins daughters birthday exactly 1 year apart too. People must get really bored in the fall and winter and make babies for the summer.

Noelle, Holy cow it is expensive for you to be able to go anywhere. Now I see what you mean about at least we can all drive state to state. How upset was your sister at putting on 10 pounds?

It is cold today. I just did my walk and I am sitting here with frozen fingers trying to type.

And the winner is RUBEN!!!! They slipped up twice thought last night and said that they both had recording contracts and that their albums were getting released at the same time. I think they were both great.

Angie what do you mean your fingers are cold? Is it cold up there again? I hope it isn't anything major with your pool. I will keep my fingers crossed for you.

Noelle coming to my house doesn't sound as fun as going to Disney or Vegas. I guess it is b/c I live in New Orleans so I can't imagine people loving this place. Walking on the river can be fun though.

Sandy and Jen where are you two?

I am trying to get myself back into working out again. I got up and did 30 mins of kickboxing. I wasn't to sure how it would make my tummy feel. I am ok though. I told Joe that I am going to use this weekend as the stepping stone back into the gym. I am sure that we will be working in the yard so I am going to try to keep my heart rate up while I am doing it.