maybe she will get the message and come and tell Frappe why she shouldn't fraternize with the Udderbats----my girlfriend who is a nurse at a veteran's hospital says that when the old guys go to the bathroom their B@!!s plop into the toilet with a little splash---i was so happy to hear this as it made the saggy udders of the bovine species seem less bothersome---at least they stay out of the flush.NOOOOOOOOOOOwwwww----how is that bit of info ??? oh yes,now that peachers and sugar are having problems with their relationship,we should definitely call in Lush to referee---it's sixteen degreeeeees here----BUT,I met another American,Kiwonk----from Memphis who said he was thrilled with the cool weather------

Gross to plop plop drop drop. Daphne

Looks just like the old one.

Ds9 has gone on a five day field trip so I'll only have one kid to worry about in person while I'm worrying whether the other one will remember to brush his teeth and take a shower once in a while.

Still fattish despite lack of appetite.

Bagzie - you are sooooo naughty!!!

Oh Bagzie, you are sooo bad!

I did nothing all weekend. I had big plans of getting my house all cleaned up, but didn't get much done. My "kids" who are full grown adults now, kept messing anything I'd cleaned. The grocery checker was telling the lady in front of me all about a wonderful child rearing book which would turn her unruly kids into little angels. When it was my turn I asked her if she knew of any books about getting your grown children to move out. She thought maybe I should boot them out and write a book about it.

Next week we are going for an entire week at the beach. We've rented a cabin, and will be by ourselves for most of the time. DH is worried he's going to go nutz with that much free time. The man has a hard time relaxing.

Brattie, my DS wouldn't mind if I went swimming with his friends, he actually likes me now that he's past that terrible teenage stage.

Sugar, I loved your vacuum cleaner salesman story. You're my hero. Would you come here and hang up on tele marketers for me? The ones I find most annoying are telephone solicitation calls that are recordings. They can't even give me a real person to annoy me???

I just took 2 15 year old boys to see Signs. Mel Gibson is so good looking! The movie was great too. I love jumping in my seat. It was fun watching the audience jump also. We sat in the back and had fun watching people and the movie and the reactions! Daphne

It took me until today to get my 'puter to sign in here.

We saw Signs last week too. It was really wild, wasn't it? I've been renting a lot of movies too, mainly because it's so hot I don't feel like doing anything else. I've seen Dragonfly, Lantana, A Beautiful Mind, In the Bedroom, Liberty Stands Still (crap), The Shipping News, and probably others. All except that one were good to excellent.

Sugar is my hero too. I hate salesmen. I wish I had the nerve to really mess with their heads on the phone. Mostly I just hang up on them while saying "Not interested". You can't wait around for a response or they will start arguing with you. That just infuriates me. I don't even talk to charity solicitors anymore. Once I got talked into sending money to the Policemen's Ball type thing that supposedly ran youth programs. They sent me a packet of information and it turned out they don't even have programs in this entire state, so I never sent them the money. So not only was I annoyed, I also felt guilty. Hate them hate them hate them!

Well, Bagz, that's got to be my favorite image of the day . Thank you so much. Would you like the link to a story about a temporary home health care worker and what lovely things she had to do? I think it's right up your alley.....

DD and her friends once again had an entry in the Boat Parade on Sunday. It was an angst filled day. They did, however, win Best Dressed Boat again (they won last year for their Josie and the Pussycats boat). They decorated the canoe with stuffed monkeys and parrots, had a big striped umbrella in the middle of the boat, made a sign that said "Margaritaville", wore tropical outfits, and sipped (virgin) Margaritas out of coconuts. The final effect was great, but all the horrors that went into it about killed me. First DD forgot to check on the music she wanted to play (Jimmy Buffet, of course) and it was on our sailboat (3 hours away, too late) so they didn't have music. Then the girl whose father brought the canoe forgot the umbrella and half the other stuff she was supposed to bring. Then the girl who was bringing most of the decorations forgot half of them. Then the other girl refused to participate because she was sick of spending every minute with the other 3 (although this was really petulant of her, I could hardly blame her). So I had to keep driving people home to get their stuff. They had a devil of a time steering the boat because of the big umbrella standing up in the middle, and the girl who didn't come was the other paddler besides DD. So we made another girl sit in the bow (she is a perfectly competent canoe paddler) and she kept whining "Do I have to paddle?" Right up to the point the boat was in the water. Finally I rather loudly said to her "YES, YOU DO!!!" And the girl sitting in the middle was pouting because she didn't have a comfortable place to sit. It was so lovely. But they managed and they looked fabulous, so of course that's all that mattered, so of course they will probably put us all through this again next year. This venture worked out better last year, when DD was in charge of everything, meaning I could stick my nose in every 5 minutes and make sure she didn't forget anything. Don't other parents do that?

The weather has finally gotten a little cooler -- about 80 deg today. I may live after all.

Kiwi

Kiwi wins the most involved mom award. You are a saint. Are you going to post pictures?

I haven't seen In the bedroom yet. Is it worth the time? I didn't like dragonfly. For some reason it just seemed too farfetched. I loved The Shipping News. I'm reading The God of Small Things . It's not an easy read, but so far, very good. It's based in India and the names and locations are hard for me to remember. I have to keep going back and reminding myself who is who. I just ordered Patty Jane's House of Curl from half.com. It's supposed to be really good, but an easy read. It's been too hot to concentrate lately. Anyway that's my excuse. Who has read and also seen the movie The Shipping News ? I've seen the movie, should I bother with reading the book? I just finished readingthe Cider House Rules which of course, was completely different from the movie, which was great. The book was good, but just in a different way, and very lonnnnngggggg.

I was too grossed out by the drop-drop to post until now. Ick!

I'm getting ready for a long workout. Body Max- it's step, then lower body intervals and weights, then upper body weights. I'm going to follow it up with a bellydancing tape. Watching Shakira on VH-1 makes me want to belly dance.


How dorky is this? I have a new motivator. I have a 30" long chain that would make a darling belly chain (something I have wanted for a couple of years now.) However, said chain doesn't fit around my belly. So I'm going to wear it around my neck until it does fit. I wonder if that's motivating enough?

Kiwi, you're such a good mommy.

I'm buckling to peer pressure and actually buying some overpriced crap from Little Guy's PTA book. He wants to win a spy ear, but he has to sell 15 items to win it and we're only getting three. I'm not sure why the PTA thinks we're all rich enough to buy $10 wrapping paper. Must come from the same myth-machine that came up with the doozy that teachers make less money than people in other professions. (No one in my division makes as much as a first-year teacher, and we work weekends, holidays, and summers. And have 25 years of experience between the three of us.)

If you're interested, you can read about our adventure in Omaha last week here. It's too long and complicated to repeat here.

I'm back down to 187. I have switched to Diet Coke for my pop addiction. It's not as good as Cherry Coke, but it'll do. I'm also replacing some meals with Balance bars or Slim-Fast bars. The Crunchy Peanut Butter tastes kind of like Butterfinger. The replacements aren't helping my soy intolerance much, but it's not like you can avoid soy. That crap is in everything.

Where's Peachbat? LUSHBAT! Come see us again! And BerrypieFrappeBat hasn't posted nearly enough since her triumphant return.

Well, I must go be inspiring.

Ciao!

...but somehow she gets away with it. With me it's not the butt, it's the gut . Just too big and flabby.

Cherry, you must have fantastic muscle tone with all that working out.

PTA here is always asking for money so they can fix up the school yard, plant new shrubs and stuff - things that I think the government should be paying for. The school situation here is pretty miserable.

ds6 (alias Mr. Anxiety Attack) has actually survived his first two weeks of school. Tomorrow night is parent/teacher night where they vote for the parents reps for each class. I'll be hiding under my chair like usual. I'll plant shrubs but I won't get involved with all those nutty parents. There are enough Super Debbies in the class to do that.

Should be ironing right now.

DH has decided he actually wants to do something about this slum we live in -- He wants to build a new house on our lot and bulldoze this one! This is probably the most sensible thing to do; we did look into having this house rebuilt in acceptable form and it was fraught with complications and more expensive than building new. This way we can get rid of the bat poop at the same time.....

So anyway, we spent last evening looking at house plans. Oy. We were only at each other's throat a few times. Nobody stormed out of the room. This is good. Of course we didn't bring up the subject of siding. That is an argument for another day, I guess. I know he wants vinyl siding and I absolutely won't live in it if he puts that on a new house. That'll be a fun discussion.

I listened to The Shipping News on tape, and I have to tell you it was awesome. I would recommend reading it definitely. Maybe wait a while so that the movie is a little less fresh in your mind, but I don't think it will matter that you've seen it. I read The Cider House Rules a long time ago, but I haven't seen the movie. Should I? I think I might have taped it. hmmm.

I haven't heard of the 2 books you mentioned, Wabbit. Who are they by?

Sounds like you're making some progress, Cherry. Even if you do have to give up your namesake Coke... Hope it works out. I'm about stuck in place. I haven't lost a single pound all summer, but I haven't really been trying very hard either. I'm getting tempted by the idea of a fast.

So glad DS has made it through the trauma of the beginning of school, Sug. We still have about a week to go. I should probably find out when the first day of school is, shouldn't I?

Later, gators, I have to go find some more house plans.

Kiwi

Oh yeah, DD downloaded AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) yesterday and I discovered that I already had a screen name, strangely enough. Apparently when I signed up at a particular game site one time, it carried forward to AIM. So anyway, is anybody else using AIM? It is a much smaller program than ICQ, doesn't have as many bells and whistles, but a lot more people seem to be on it these days and I don't think it messes up computers as much as ICQ.

Kiwi, I will join you in a modified fast. I'm talking a day or two of slim fast only, just to give me a jump start. I've got to do something. I give myself a talking to every morning, then promptly go thru the drive up espresso place for a latte and a scone. I'm just feeling so terrible about myself I can hardly stand it. My sister is an alcoholic, I think I may have transferred that compulsive behavior to food. AAAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!

Kiwi!!! Wooo-hooo! a new house!!! I have often fantasized about building a new house on our property, way in the back by our beautiful oak tree. What style home are you planning? Tell us more.

Cherry, don't you know complaining about teacher salaries is not politically correct? I don't have a complaint about the salaries, but the retirement benefits in our state are bankrupting the state.

Well, it seems I need to get to work!

I have a list of 139 things I have to do to put this house on the market and it has to be listed within one month. And of course DH is out of town, we have house guests up the kazoo and I still haven't read the mormon book I'm being paid to read.

What makes everything worse is that I've become addicted to Bounce Out on Yahoo games.

Someone tear me away from the computer.
love
frappe berry pie bat

Geez. I hate it when DH shows up at the office and catches me goofing off. If he had any idea how incredibly bored I am he wouldn't mind. Not that he ever says he does. He knows better.

Frappe, why is it that all the things you meant to do on your house the whole time you were living there always have to get done before you can leave it? Why shouldn't they just be transferred to the ppl who are buying it? I came across my list of things I was going to get done on the house from last January. Nothing has been crossed off. Why are you reading mormon books?

Kiwi The God of Small Things is by Arundhati Roy and is a Booker Prize winner. It was very good, and very tragic, if you're into that kind of thing.

Wabby, everytime I move I say that in the NEXT house, I'm going to fix it up exactly like I want so that I can enjoy it. But it never happens. Only the thought of a quick (and God willing, lucrative) sale gets me going. My painter didn't show up and I'm pissed. I have 5 people coming in 2 hours to stay until next week. I have to change sheets and do a quick load of towels. So why am I playing Bounce Out?