Good morning, ladies! Yesterday I had what can only be described as an emotionally draining day. I stayed up until almost 6 PM talking with Jaime. I don't think he quit understands what an overthinker I am...so when he means to just share his poetry with me, I read into it. A poem about a female being Rose on the Titanic and him being coal in the boiler room, how he must insist I leave him behind, how a poor man in love only SOUNDS romantic...well, let's just say there was a looooooooooong conversation had which left me with a headache and drained. Long story short, we are good now.

Lexxiss - At the time I posted, I didn't...there was no attachment and no photo showing up. Maybe I needed to reload or something? Either way, I see now...ADORABLE!

WaistingTime - Good luck with your mission! My mother has heard through the grapevine that she was born to a family with multiple siblings and she has always had interest in finding them as she was raised an only child. Unfortunately the records were sealed in a courthouse that burned down. The doctor that delivered her says he would tell her if he remembered, but he is in the late stages of dementia and sadly does not. If the family we're thinking is her biological family, both of her biological parents are deceased and she has 7 siblings.

Sophie - Truth be told, the work at my current agency is a cakewalk compared to my old agency...it's not as taxing as 16 hours on my old job would be. And it dang sure beats working the two jobs I *was* working. On that note...I'm working an 8 hour shift of OT tomorrow. Happy Happy Birthday to you!!! Hope you have a fabulously fun weekend!

Cyndi - That's awesome! I'm sure you're booked solid, but if you get a spare moment to grab a cup of coffee or something, let me know and we'll work it out! Mom has never been to Boston before. And she actually hasn't taken a real vacation since 2008 when I took her on an 8 day trip to NYC and DC. I tried to get her to ride up with me when I came up last April for an interview and she was still stuck in the unsupportive phase and told me that she wouldn't have fun and that I knew how she felt about it. That makes her sound horribly cold, but she's really not...she was just having a tough time with me making the move. That trip was a good turning point, as she realized how happy I sounded when I was here. There's been bumps in the road since, but she's gotten much better at accepting it.

My my my, I am QUITE wordy today. My plans for today, which I just found out about 4 hours ago, include completing the ALS Ice Water Challenge. I escaped these challenges for so long, but my friend Tom finally got me. For those of you not familiar, the challenge is for me to either dump a bucket of ice water on myself within 24 hours or donate $100 to ALS. Eek! Tom is lucky I love him! LOL

Let's go, ladies...coffee coffee coffee!!! Happy Friday!!!

Good morning!
Natasha! Thanks for getting us started!

I am hoping I can go back to bed for a while but sometimes that doesn't work. I did come downstairs to use the bathroom, though, and got the coffee going so it'll be ready when I do decide to get up.

I got lots accomplished yesterday and resisted leaving town for any reason. I don't know what I'm going to do today. Maybe I'll just read a book. LOL

Good morning, Lexxiss...reading a book sounds fabulous!

Wow, Debbie reading a book and nothing to do today?! Sounds fantastic!

Natasha - Ummmmm...I'd donate the 100 bucks

I'm not feeling nearly as wordy as Nastasha is , but since I won't be here this weekend, I figured I'd jump in. Gratefully, I'm only working a half day today, then we're off camping! I was feeling inspired last night, so the black bean salad is already made, my stuff is packed, and some of the non-perishables. Looks like it's going to be perfect weather too - high seventies during the day and sunny!

Have a great day everyone!

Good Morning Ladies! I love to read wordy updates. Natasha, my friend's daughter posted something about that challenge on FB and I wasn't quite sure what it was. Now I know! I'm glad to hear that some attention is being brought to ALS this way. It's such a terrifying disease.

Debbie, enjoy your day reading! It's hard to schedule reading for me but I do love it so. When I commuted on the subway to work I had enforced reading time, but now that I work two blocks from home I need to really make time for it. Currently I'm reading "The Valley of Amazement" by Amy Tan. I love her books.

Twynn, have fun camping. I'm not a camper myself, but my husband and son have done it and enjoy it. Me, I'll be at the Marriott down the street :-).

Today is work (I'm going to try to get to the supermarket in the am) and then I'm picking my son up from the overnight trip. I did miss him so much, but it's so relaxing to wake up (later than usual) and not have to worry about getting someone else "organized." Hope everyone has a great day!

Good morning! Shhh but we have gone 30 hours without rain! and there is none in the forecast until next Wednesday. We may get a chance to dry out a bit. I have some plants in the front perennial bed which have been smashed to the ground and need to do some flower first aid today.

Sure is noisy in here this morning. Millie and Jazz are ripping around the house play-fighting. I've never seen such a performance. Millie can jump right over Jazz and it drives him nuts. She can also jump up in the air and land on my lap - somewhat startling when I'm sipping coffee.

Whoops! Trash day is today, not Thursday, because of the Monday stat holiday. I'm outta here for a bit to do some gathering and lugging.

Back in a bit.

Good morning and happy Friday, chicks! We are a chatty bunch this morning!

We are also looking at a dry and sunny weekend, Ruth. Hooray! Perhaps DH and I will get out and take a short hike or something.

Yesterday was productive: cleaned most of the house. It was soooo wet from Wednesday night's rain I avoided outdoor work. Hopefully today I will get outside.

Have a great day everyone!

Good morning.

Natasha - Brrr! Maybe your mom can learn more someday with online DNA testing.

Debbie - Do you have a good one? I haven't been reading much myself lately; too much time spent on my genealogy obsession.

Tammy - Have fun camping. And the salad sounds yummy.

Mmc - I'm with you at the hotel!

Ruth - Our tomato plants suffered from heavy rains the other day. why can't Mother Nature be more cooperative?!

Beth - A hike sounds great. Enjoy.

I'm off to the gym today. Then more Ecuador research. I've moved on to researching hotels in Quito. We arrive there and spend the first three nights. I guess I also need to figure out more about what we'll want to do to figure out what part of town we might want for a hotel. DH really wants to hire a local guide through a website he heard about. I don't enjoy this part of trip planning.

Have a great day.

Good morning,

WFH for me today so glad it's Friday. Ruth we got your rain it has been raining solid since the day before yesterday and still more to come. It's not a steady rain it's more like a downpour and then steady.

I hope everyone has a great weekend