G'day all,

Just 'home' again after taking dd and her dh to the airport for their return home to Melbourne. We had a lovely time but it is nice to be 'two' again.

Slavika it is so true how good it is to share ideas etc. in 'our' little forum. At times I feel that everyone here knows me better than some of my friends.
I would never have thought that a leather coat would be too 'weighty' but once Eileen mentioned it, it made a lot of sense.

Eileen I never realised that Oregon was hit with a tsunami, I thought they ocurred more in this part of the world.


Ann Happy anniversary!!! Hope your dh will be much better when he completes the iron infusions.

Peggy I thought of your nephew, I knew he was around Madras, an area where the tsunami also hit. Pleased he is OK.
I am with you, as much as I like a bargain, this year it was just crazy. I will go and have a look in the New Year to see what is still around that 'I cannot possibly live without'!!!
So much snow, sounds horrendous.

Trudy just noticed that you were posting the same time. Pleased you had a nice Christmas, I can imagine how nice it would be to have a little one there on Christmas Day

The news this morning is that some 80 000 people have perished as a result of the tsunami.
It is all just unbelievable. It went through my mind when I was out shopping with dd, everyone desperate to get a bargain when not that far away from us people were desperately trying to cling to the few possesions they had.

Hello to Karen, Lily, Glenda and Jeneye hope all is well with you all.

Cheers
Maria

Maria, it was many years ago. Maybe 20+. You are right in that more are in the southeastern part of the world. But the western USA is part of that infamous 'ring of fire' wherein there are so many volcanoes, etc., which can trigger quakes.
We do get our fair share of milder quakes and remember Mt. St. Helen's. Oh lordy, when she blew we ended up with 7-8" of ash and the eastern part of the state was paralyzed for a couple of weeks.
80,000. That number takes your breath away.
My DH was into the oncologist's today to have his 'port' flushed. I think he will have it removed in a month or two once he gets past the 'oh my heavens, is it going to come back?' stage. I told him you NEVER get over that stage.
Just the other day he played a CD for the first time since his last chemo treatment and had an immediate flashback. Said it took him back into that room instantly. Things will do that for awhile. I still get butterflies in my stomach when I go there with him, and my own treatments ended Nov '03.

Gonzaga won another basketball game. Over Oklahoma state this time! Yay, this is my school and I am very proud of that team.
They did lose to Illinois, but have beat Georgia Tech and now OK with only that Illinois loss this year. Yippee!!
Odd we were talking about USA tsunamis yesterday. On NBC news last night they had a segment filmed at Canon Beach, OR showing the tsunami warning signs (also discussed the warning systems out in the ocean), but did not mention the one they had had years ago.
I am busy sewing up Fabric Bowls and having a ball! Some of these are destined to be Christmas gifts. Yes, I am one of 'those' people who start the day after Christmas.

G'day all,

Eileen I had never heard of a Tsumani, it is interesting to hear from experienced people in that field how they actually occur and what the warning signs are. There have been reports that as far away as North West Australia the effect of the Tsumani was felt. Where it was experienced here in Australia is where no people live so no damage was done to people or buildings.
We live about 400 metres from the beach at home in Adelaide, I was getting a bit worried but dh assures me that as Adelaide lies on a pennisula and our beach is really a bay, we are a lot less vulnerable.
By the way I am pleased for your basketball team, I am not familiar of course with the teams you mention, dh probably is, he would only watch sport on TV if he had his way

We went for a drive to the 'Blue Mountains' (part of the 'Great Dividing Range') yesterday. We went on some 4x4 wheel drive tracks to some look outs, the scenery was just breath taking and I took a lot of photos.
I am picking out the best ones and will then upload them onto a website for you all to have a look.

I will get on with it and hopefully have the website up in a day or so.....

Cheers
Maria

G'day all,

To say it has been a dramatic ending to 2004 is a bit of an understatement.

We will be heading to the 'Bridge' tonight and see the fireworks. There has been some controversy, some feel the fireworks should be cancelled.
It is a huge display, the firework people spend most of the year designing it, the organisers say that it is too late to cancel but will use the event as fundraiser instead. I guess that is a good solution, there certainly is a need for lots of funds to be raised to assist the victims of the Tsunami.

I hope you will all have a.........
wonderful, peaceful, healthy and happy 2005

'See' you in the New Year.

Cheers
Maria

I am wishing everyone a very HAPPY NEW YEAR for 2005. Here is hoping that this year will be good for everyone.
We are ending 2004 with a blizzard. It is so good to be cozy in our homes tonight as it storms outside. :snf:

See you gals next year.... :sman:

Happy New Year All. Just poping in to let you know my kids have all left for home as of this morning. SIL ,DH and i spent the whole day returning our house to it's natural state. It was upside down for so long i had almost forgotten what it is supposed to look like. I loved having the kids here but as Maria put it is is nice to be only 3 again. i am now tired so will just be spending the evening in a chair watching a movie. Not sire which one but one that we have here at home.

I will be back later this weekend when i'm more rested.

Karen

Hi Everybody

DH had to have another bone marrow biopsy done yesterday because they couldn't do the testing that the oncologist wanted with sample she sent from the sternum. I don't understand it well enough to explain but it had something to do with the density of the "marrow" and the "flow". This time she took the sample from his hip. They had given him a couple of pills to sedate him a little....and he kept telling my son and I how the pills weren't working, but he was so funny we knew they were. The test was done without too much trouble. He hung on tight to the nurses hand. She's a big gal, and DH said, she squeezed his hand harder then he was squeezing hers. Our son and I were once again allowed to be in the room with him and I think that gives him a little bit of comfort to know we are there. The doctor indicated that DH has likely had this cancer for about 1-1/2 years.....unbelievable.......
We don't know too much more, because once again we are waiting for the test results on the biopsy. She'll phone us when they are in, hopefully early next week. He's feeling more relaxed since we saw the doctor on Thursday. He has gained 5# back and the doctor told him she was pleased. She has now put him on "Prednisone". He is to take 1/2 a pill every second day for 100 days.
My DH is an only child and does not have very many relatives. He does have a cousin that lives in the US that is about his age and when he found out DH was sick he decided to come and visit. He is arriving on Jan. 9th. The mattress/box spring in the guest bedroom looked like something from "Sanford and Sons" so I bought a new set that will be delivered on Wednesday. I also bought a new sofa and love seat for the TV room, in a very bright gold colour in a microfiber fabric that looks like suede and apparently is easy to clean. These were things that we had planned to do when we returned from Maui, so we thought we might just as well do them now.
Our friends that were going to come here to celebrate New Years Eve with us are not coming because we had that big snow storm yesterday and last night and the roads are not good and they live out of town. We had planned on BBQ steaks and also having lobster tails. Well..... the first problem was I couldn't even find the BBQ as it is buried under a mountain of snow. We were providing the steaks and they were going to bring the lobster tails, but since none of that was going to happen, DH and I had "French Toast" for dinner this evening.
So gals, I want to wish each of you a HAPPY NEW YEAR and the all the best to you and your families in 2005.

HAPPY HAPPY NEW YEAR


We will be having a very quiet New Years Eve. We did go to the matinee of 'The Aviator' this afternoon, and then out for Chinese afterwards. That is a man's movie, really, and especially one like my DH who is into flying big time. Howard Hughes was certainly a most interesting character, and Leonardo Dicaprio did a wonderful job portraying him. I think in his own strange way Hughes was a genius.

It sounds like we are all doing the quiet evening. I hope we can manage to stay awake to watch the Waterford Crystal ball come down. I was reading about what a tricky job it is to get it into place.

Haven't posted lately, as I have been doing music for the spring show. January 10th will get here much too fast, and I have to have the music and program ready for that first rehearsal. Yesterday we had our carpet shampooed. It really needed it. That is all our exciting happenings.

Slavika: Hope your Dr. will get the results of the latest bone marrow test quickly. The waiting for results is so hard. I'm sure your DH is anxious te get the treatments going. Sometimes a nice snow storm that keeps one inside and cozy is not all bad. I can remember those days, when it was nice to just snuggle by the fire. We had one of those stoves, that could be an open fire as well. Your new furniture sounds nice. I'd like to get a new sofa, but DH keeps saying there is nothing wrong with what we have.

Hi to you all. Hope you have an enjoyable New Year's Eve

'See' you tomorrow on 2005. Does it seem possible? Ann

Happy New Year to one and all.
Slavika, I join everyone in hoping that biopsy comes back REAL soon. There are a lot of informative websites out there on the internet. Get some addy's from the cancer support center or you may inadvertently get into one of those alternative sites.
Got up a bit later than normal today. 0600. Slept in due to some idiot lit a stick of DYNAMITE about 4 blocks from us, needless to say lots of fire engines, etc. which woke us up.
Did the 'dreadmill' and then took down all the quilty Christmas stuff. Got it cleaned and stored in pillow cases for next year (I store quilty stuff in fabric so it can breathe). Also worked on my menues and am eyeballing some quilt blocks which I am going to line with heat resistant material and use them for hotpads.
Anyhoo, this makes 33 consecutive days of exercise. I will get back to where I was prior to some minor complication from surgery in November. I KNOW I will.

I do not know why anyone would be using dynamite. Not in the middle of an area of 200,000. Probably some kids. Haven't had the local news on, so don't know if any serious damage.

Happy New Years to all!

We had a very quite one at home. Just watched Movies and had a little Champange.

Slavika: I do hope they get the results back soon! Waiting is very hard.

Eileen: Dynamite??????????? Oh my. I just can not believe people


Hi to everyone else!
Been relaxing alot so havent really been on the puter. Nice to relax once in a while

Hi Everybody
Our friends picked us up around 4:00 in their 4 wheel drive and we went to their place for the dinner we didn't get on New Years Eve. We had lobster tails and instead of steak my friend roasted a chicken......it was a feast. Blueberry pie made with wild blueberries for dessert.
When they drove us home another snow storm was brewing and the visibility was not that great. I told them to phone us when they got home and they did and were safe and sound. They leave for Maui on Wednesday, and I will not see them again until April 15th. I will truly miss them. Phone calls and emails will help to keep us in touch.
Before I get ready for bed I wanted to stop by and wish my friend Trudy a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY, which is tomorrow, January 2nd. I hope you have a super day and I will be thinking about you.