[THE BIG ORANGE BABE]

Sorry I hAen't been around much...but I have been lurking and reading.

Just wanted to check in and let everyone know I'm ok and I'll try to get on tomorrow...Have to go over to HR to get my retirement papers in order.


BOB

[Ellen]

I have decided the toe is definitely broken. I will take Thin's advice and tape it. I am coddling it a good bit, but it doesn't hurt as bad as it did yesterday. Still swollen, and all blue, but not throbbing.

I grabbed a couple pieces out of the top of the kiln. Some good, some bad, but that is about par. I hope the kids stuff is ok. I did not get that far into it. Still too hot!

I have to take James to the rapid transit train station in the morning to go to the airport. His plane takes off early, so we have to leave here at 4:30! Yikes! I am usually awake then anyway! haha!

I will check in tomorrow morning. I have water aerobics, so I may not get on until later.

Sweet dreams everyone!

[techwife]

Hi everyone!! My SABRES are kicking butt and takin names!! Won the first series against the Islanders and, although they lost yesterday in double overtime, are beating the Rangers 2:1 in this series. Assuming they win the next two games, they'll then play the Senators (ottawa) or the NJ Devils in the next series, then take on the Western champs and go for the cup! I'm so excited. I love hockey!!

Anyhoo...Derek just took off for Syracuse to catch a plane to Minneapolis and won't be back until Saturday around midnight. I'm pretty sure they booked him the Saturday return to save on the plane ticket, which really irks me because now I have to take the kids to my mom's so I can go to work. They didn't even ask, is what makes me mad. It's like they just assume he's available 24/7. They kept him in NYC on Friday until 7pm and he had to drive home from there at that time and didn't get home until 1am! Shelley and I decided to watch a movie (night at the museum...LOVE IT) but fell asleep right after the opening credits (I've seen it about three times already) and Derek woke us up well after the movie was over.

We had a new guy start with us at the salon last week. He's a little crazy. A girl I work with said yesterday he came in staggering and swearing in front of customers, offering them happy pills. She thinks he's on drugs. Ya think? He looks just like George Michael. But creepier.

Let's see...what else is new? Not much at the moment. I have to work today and Wednesday. Those are my hours now, Monday and Wednesday 9-2 and Saturday nights 2-9. No news yet on if I got anyone in trouble from my phone call. I'm considering calling my boss's boss's boss and making a formal complaint if I ever run into her again and she's that rude. I mean, is that the type of person they want representing upper management in Master Cuts? Every aspect of the place I've been throughly thrilled with except that nightmare. What really upset me was when she was on the phone for two hours and talking trash about other salons and stylists in front of customers and us! What a *****!

Anyhow...

Monet: That stinks about the toe. Nothing ruins your functionality of your whole body like foot pain. Except maybe back pain. And migraines. Still, that toe story made MY toe hurt!! Tape it and let's hope it gets better sooner than later!! Pitas make a GREAT base for pizzas...and the crust/dough is the part of pizza making that makes me avoid making pizza! I hate the stretching and pulling and stretching and pulling...

Rosalie: It was nice on this end of the lake, too! I took the dog for a walk to the store and didn't even need a jacket! Spring is finally here!! I'm gonna try that sweet/sour chicken!!

BOB: Good luck with the whole retirement thing? Seen any good movies lately?

Thin: That is a lot of work! I'd have needed a hot bath after all THAT!! Good job!! How did Rachel's overnighter go? Did she have fun?

Sef: You are the casserole queen!! I'd make a nice potato salad and some burgers and eat up those beans and indulge in a nice, illegal summery dinner...but that's just me. I haven't lost any weight in over a year, either...

Solly: May can be like that for me, as well. Don't let the housecleaning worry you. That's why I have the signature I do...it makes me feel better when my housecleaning gets away from me.

Well, I have to go find something to watch on the tube until it's time to go wake up Shelley. She wants me to straighten her hair this morning...I brought home a straightener from the salon last night (I had to go in and close because the rest of the salon had to go to Syracuse for Product Training, but two of us stayed behind to close which I was much happier to do than go to Syracuse at 5pm on a Sunday night)...so, I'll go wake her up in an hour.

Time for more

[Ellen]

Morning! I got up at 4:30 to take James to the train to go catch his plane. I went back to bed and I just got up and am getting ready to head out to Water Aerobics. I will post when I get home!

[ThinWithin225]

Well, I picked Rachel up from her party, (She had a great time. Didn't go to sleep till 3am!) and we went by Home Depot again. I bought more mulch, threee more bags of dirt and some flowers. Apparently I'm too late for strawberries, but I'll keep looking around. We came home and finished my containers for our little garden and spread more mulch. The kids planted some loose leaf lettuce for me and we got all the flowers in. NOw I just have to make sure I keep every thing well watered and hopefully we will have some fresh veggies!!

Have a great day!!!

[Melf]

Good Monday Morning Everyone! I've lowered my ticker by another lb this morning. Was hoping to lower it by 2 but the scale was a little higher this am than yesterday. That's ok because it's still 12 lbs off since Feb!

Went for my 2 mile this am. Was hurting pretty bad in lower back & my right hip & leg since Friday but I felt better after I got out there & walked.

Have a great day everyone!

[CountryMom4Him]

I really really didn't want to weigh this morning. A couple of days ago I was showing now major loss this week. But I guess everything finally fell into place and I'm down 5 pounds. At least now I don't have to change my ticker it is finally right again.

WTG Mef on another pound. Twelve pounds since Feb. is great

Sef...purple hulls are a lot like black eyed peas. I planted three types of peas this year to see which ones do better. The purple hulls, some zipper creams and one called Mississippi Silverskins (these are like a field pea).

Monet..I'm so glad to hear you are feeling better. Sorry to hear about your little toe. When I was in high school forever and a day ago a friend was trying to set me down from the side of a pick-up truck. I barely touched the ground and my little toe broke, not a good feeling at all. I hope you heal quickly.

Bob..((hugzz)) I hope things settle down for you soon.

Tech...I hope things go well for you at work today and that you don't have to deal with the rude lady. Sometimes people are having a bad day or have things on their minds that cause them to be rude, but her actions were down right ornery. Since this is a pattern with her it is good thing you reported her. She needs to realize what she does effects other people.

Hi Rosalie..((hugzz)) Your high temperatures are about what our lows are for this time of year. I'll trade, we are going to be in the mid 80's tihs week.

Thin, it sounds like you have been getting plenty of exercise working in your garden. I need to get off my booty and work on mine in a bit. The grass is taking over.

Solly, I hope they don't keep you too busy this month. Where is Punta Cana?

Fruit..howdy if you are peeking in. Remind me when your little one is due please.

Gotta get moving. ((Everybody))

Love and hugs,
Crystle

[Ellen]

Howdy! I went to water aerobics, then to the ceramic supply place then to Publix for some groceries, and now I am home eating lunch. In about a half an hour my neighbor and her daughter will be here for their lesson. She went with me to the ceramics place and bought a bunch of stuff. They are very excited about working with clay!

I actually weighed this morning and I am down two pounds. I am quite happy about that.

I had a protein smoothie before I left for the gym, a multigrain bagel with cream cheese after the gym, and I just had a open face chicken and muenster cheese sandwich and a diet coke for late lunch. Dinner tonight will be at spaghetti night. I plan to eat salad and some turkey Italian sausage, and try to avoid the pasta totally. It wreaks havoc on my blood sugar levels.

My toe was not totally happy with the water aerobics, but I think it feels better after the pool and hot tub. I still need to find the tape and tape it to the other toe. It is still so swollen I am kind of putting it off.
Water aerobics was awesome, as usual. I really love the class. Today it was really crowded though. I think they need to start offering classes every morning instead of just M-W-F-S mornings. They have classes T-TH evenings as well, but the morning classes are always packed! There were about 40 people there this morning, which barely gave us room to move! I am learning things to use in our pool which is good. I can't wait to get the pool open!

I need to go prepare for my students, so I will check in again later!

Congrats to all the losers this week! Way to go!

[Rosalie]

Hi Everyone

It's another bright and sunny day here and warm enough to go without a jacket. I was up early this morning and went for a walk. Had my dil over for coffee after she dropped the kids off at school. I was thinking of getting my kitchen painted and she helped me select the color and offered to paint it for me. So when the guy comes to do my bathroom in a week or two that's when we will get the painting done. Plus I want to paint the ceiling and wall on my balcony. When the guy is here doing the br I will have to stay home for a couple of days anyway so will be good to have something to keep busy. I would go nuts if I had to sit around for a couple of days doing nothing.

Melf and CountryMom- Congrats on your losses this week.

I want to change the knobs and hinges on my white kitchen cabinets so I am off to see if I can remove the old hinges. The knobs shouldn't be a problem except I'm thinking of replacing the metal knobs with white ones so I'll probably need to paint the cabinets too. Yuck.

[sef]

Good evening,

Time passes so fast, even if you aren't fast. I have been reading posts but too tired to type. Guilt has forced me here.

Just have been busy again and as I've said before sometimes it tires me out, but I'm not stopping!!

[B}ROSALIE:[/B] Thanx for the recipe. I will definetly try it. Need to put a couple of ingredients on the shopping list. I will use chicken. I love pork but is not a fav of DIL and GD. I love pineapple but as it is a no-no I have been good, so will be nice to have a smidge of flavoring. I need a long arm scrubber, it is hard for me to reach up to do the tub/shower, also the big mirror in the sink area. I usually wait until I can't stand the mirror any longer and then ask DS. The tub surround I usually do while in the shower. Oatmeal cookies are one of my favs, after Gingerbread cookies and peanut butter. How nice of DIL to offer to paint for you. The trouble with redecorating a room is when you look at the next room you say "hmmmmm I could............"

MONET: Glad you are feeling better. I have never seen pocketless pitas, will have to look. Your poor toe, I have done that twice and it hurts!!! Go to the doctor and he just tapes it to the next toe, can do that myself. I use the exercises I learned at water serobics all the time in our pool, it is such a help.

THIN: I can't garden anymore but enjoy watching DS who has become Mr. Green Jeans dince we moved here. It was always so satisfying.

BOB: Glad you're still here, if only lurking, been doing that myself. Hope there are no problems with your papers.

TECH: You do seem to have an interesting job. You meet all sorts of people! I wasn't good at the party. The devil made me do it I'm sure. On my own I'd never cheat!! If you beleive that let's talk about that bridge in Brooklyn.

COUNTRY: My DH was the vegetable gardner. He would plant peas and snow peas on March 17th even if he had to shovel snow to do it! Always had a good crop so it must have worked. There is nothing like veggies fresh picked from your own garden.

I know it's not FF, but we can use a laugh other days too. I just received this and I laughed out loud.

Two Bags

Below is an article written by Rick Reilly of Sports Illustrated. He details his experiences when given the opportunity to fly in a F-14 Tomcat. If you aren't laughing out loud by the time you get to "Milk Duds," your sense of humor is seriously broken.

"Now this message is for America's most famous athletes: Someday you may be invited to fly in the back-seat of one of your country's most powerful fighter jets. Many of you already have . John Elway, John Stockton, Tiger Woods to name a few If you get this opportunity, let me urge you, with the greatest sincerity...
Move to Guam.
Change your name.
Fake your own death!
Whatever you do .
Do Not Go!!!

I know.

The U.S. Navy invited me to try it. I was thrilled. I was pumped. I was toast! I should've known when they told me my pilot would be Chip (Biff) King of Fighter Squadron 213 at Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach.
Whatever you're thinking a Top Gun named Chip (Biff) King looks like, triple it. He's about six-foot, tan, ice-blue eyes, wavy surfer hair, finger-crippling handshake -- the kind of man who wrestles dyspeptic alligators in his leisure time. If you see this man, run the other way. Fast.

Biff King was born to fly. His father, Jack King, was for years the voice of NASA missions. ("T-minus 15 seconds and counting ..." Remember?) Chip would charge neighborhood kids a quarter each to hear his dad. Jack would wake up from naps surrounded by nine-year-olds waiting for him to say, "We have a liftoff"

Biff was to fly me in an F-14D Tomcat, a ridiculously powerful $60 million weapon with nearly as much thrust as weight, not unlike Colin Montgomerie. I was worried about getting airsick, so the night before the flight I asked Biff if there was something I should eat the next morning.

"Bananas," he said.

"For the potassium?" I asked.

"No," Biff said, "because they taste about the same coming up as they do going down."

The next morning, out on the tarmac, I had on my flight suit with my name sewn over the left breast. (No call sign -- like Crash or Sticky or Leadfoot . But, still, very cool.) I carried my helmet in the crook of my arm, as Biff had instructed. If ever in my life I had a chance to nail Nicole Kidman, this was it.

A fighter pilot named Psycho gave me a safety briefing and then fastened me into my ejection seat, which, when employed, would "egress" me out of the plane at such a velocity that I would be immediately knocked unconscious.

Just as I was thinking about aborting the flight, the canopy closed over me, and Biff gave the ground crew a thumbs-up. In minutes we were firing nose up at 600 mph. We leveled out and then canopy-rolled over another F-14.

Those 20 minutes were the rush of my life. Unfortunately, the ride lasted 80. It was like being on the roller coaster at Six Flags Over ****. Only without rails. We did barrel rolls, snap rolls, loops, yanks and banks. We dived, rose and dived again, sometimes with a vertical velocity of 10,000 feet per minute. We chased another F-14, and it chased us.

We broke the speed of sound. Sea was sky and sky was sea. Flying at 200 feet we did 90-degree turns at 550 mph, creating a G force of 6.5, which is to say I felt as if 6.5 times my body weight was smashing against me, thereby approximating life as Mrs. Colin Montgomerie.

And I egressed the bananas.

And I egressed the pizza from the night before.

And the lunch before that.

I egressed a box of Milk Duds from the sixth grade.

I made Linda Blair look polite. Because of the G's, I was egressing stuff that never thought would be egressed.

I went through not one airsick bag, but two.

Biff said I passed out. Twice. I was coated in sweat. At one point, as we were coming in upside down in a banked curve on a mock bombing target and the G's were flattening me like a tortilla and I was in and out of consciousness, I realized I was the first person in history to throw down.

I used to know 'cool'. Cool was Elway throwing a touchdown pass, or Norman making a five-iron bite. But now I really know 'cool'. Cool is guys like Biff, men with cast-iron stomachs and freon nerves. I wouldn't go up there again for Derek Jeter's black book, but I'm glad Biff does every day, and for less a year than a rookie reliever makes in a home stand.

A week later, when the spins finally stopped, Biff called. He said he and the fighters had the perfect call sign for me Said he'd send it on a patch for my flight suit.

What is it? I asked.

"Two Bags."

God Bless America!!!
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Have to let Bitsy out and then get comfy to watch Dancing With the Stars.

My good things happen, Shirley