[ceejay52]

Who's going to walk that bridge that towers over those tree's! Shad-I love your country.

Did 20 minutes of the bike this morning andwent to get in the shower. I bumped the side of the bath tub hard. Therefore, I have a sore and swollen shin. I thought it was going to bruise but it hasn't so far. Just a big pump knot. If I had the time this morning I would have cried. The mat slipped out from under me while gettting in the tub.

Happy and Mel--Like your new avatar's. Maybe someday I'll learn how to do that sort of thing. Guess I should practice.

Not much time or any thing to report. I balanced the month of March and sent the reports over to James who then sends them on there appropriate way.
Talked to my sis that lives in Springfield, Mo last night and things are still okay for me to come. She is starting a new job today. She thinks she'll be off Saturday and Sunday. Plus she is going to go back to college to get her Master's degree in nursing. She's going to have a hectic schedule for the next 2 years. I'm going to suggest that she become a nurse practioner.

Hello to the rest. Carla, Holly, Madcat, Suzi.

[MELODY525]

CEEJAY HERE IS A SAMPLE PICTURE FOR A NEW AVATAR.



1-RIGHT CLICK ON THE KOALA BEAR AND PICK "SAVE AS PICTURE"
2-GIVE IT A NAME OR KEEP THE ONE THAT POPS UP BUT REMEMBER IT AND SAVE IT TO DOCUMENT OR MY PICTURES
3- GO TO YOUR USER CONTROL PANEL AND CLICK ON EDIT AVATAR.
4-ON THE BOTTOM OF THE PAGE IN THE BLANK WHERE IT HAD THE BROWSE BUTTON NEXT TO ITYPE IN THE NAME OF THE BEAR AND CLICK ON BROWSE
5-A WINDOW OPENS AND YOU FIND YOUR PICTURE OF THE BEAR AND DOUBLE LEFT CLICK ON IT. IT WILL AUTOMATICALLY GO ON THE 3FC PAGE.
6-CLICK ON SAVE CHANGES AND 3FC WILL PUT IT ON YOUR AVATAR OR IT WILL TELL YOU IF IT IS TOO LARGE AND YOU NEED TO FIND A SMALLER ONE.

I PRINTED THIS OUT FIRST SO I WOULDN'T FORGET THE INSTRUCTIONS AND THEN TESTED MY FIRST NEW AVATAR. ONCE YOU DO IT YOU'LL BE CHANGING ALL THE TIME!! ENJOY!!!

[MELODY525]

some others

[Madcat]

Evening nice ladies! Here are we are in the beautiful land of Oz. Can we do the Treetops walk? I’m afraid of heights and I still want to do this. You know I have always wanted to go to Ayres rock. Remember the movie “Close Encounters”? Think how cool that movie would have been if they had set it at Ayres rock rather than Devil’s Peak. Oh Shad and Suzi – you live in a land where the water is turquoise and the sand is white. It’s really beautiful. I hope to see it in person one day, but for now thank you for the virtual tour.

Ruthie~ Please come back and play more often. Welcome Senorita ~ Feel free to stay. We are a mostly harmless lot. Happy~ I like the way you think of your overdue fines as a informal form of donation. You are too funny. Now throw out that cheesecake. Mel~ You must be in your glory with the new smilies. Love the sparkly graphics. Meadow~ Cool graphic! Look at the roos go. Ceejay~ more accidents happen in the bathroom than any other room in th house. Hope it doesn’t pain you much or for long. Shad~ At least “Go Live” is over with. Swim and feel better. Waves to everyone else lurking and otherwise.


I need a new avatar.

I thought I was finished my taxes last week, but I now truly believe they are done… they better be since it is the trip to Ish the accountant to drop them off tomorrow. I have done all I can do. My foot is in full recovery mode though I did have a bit of swelling this afternoon since I forgot to pack the Advil. Being able to walk without massive amounts of pain is a blessing. I went to the gym this morning. Life is good, ladies. But I do have to go.

[Shad]

Morning all,
Madcat's little egg is shining above me. Hope those taxes are all over and done with. I have to put some together for the family trust when I get home. That is if the DS2 hasn't done it already - As if.........

At least today I am not cloning myself. I've had a good lesson this morning and hope that this afternoons one goes okay as well. It makes a nice change from whinging and *****ing to the powers that be.

Madcat, take the treetop walk with me. It's easy and fun. You'll be soooo busy watching the scenery you will forget how high you are above the ground. We'll be able to cooeee the others on the ground. Uluru (not called Ayers Rock any more - except by some of the diehards) is an amazing place at sunrise and sunset. The colours are stupendous. You can't climb the rock anymore either - native sensibilities etc. but we can certainly walk around it.

Ceejay - sounds like you have a haemotoma - I fell in the bath some years back. My poor leg swelled up something horrendous. Then when the major swelling went down I was left with this bump - not much of a bruise but the bump stayed and stayed and stayed. The Doc told me it would go away of it's own accord but could take some time. It did and it did (go away and take some time).

Ceejay - you can walk the trees with Madcat and I. It really is a nice little soujourn. As I said, you are so busy looking at the scenery and picking out what might be (is that a tree kangaroo I see over there?) Is that a Koala? Is it a bird or a plane. Generally no, it's a hunk of wood! But there is plenty to see up there.

Happy, those smilies are something else. Where are you getting all these from? Incredimail?

Had a bit of fun with booking my flight from NY to Toronto. For the first time the thing came back and insisted that I might not have the correct documentation and wanted a credit card authorisation and a copy of my drivers licence or credit card front and back. Since that came in on the Friday, I didn't get it until yesterday and today they have cancelled my flight. I sincerely hope they haven't debited my credit card since there was a reservation number created. I've been onto S the travel agent and he explained the ins and outs. He is now following up and booking me on the flight again - now he is going to do the international bits and I am going to do the internal bits - most of which are now done. I'll be sending my itinerary out later this week with all the info for each of you people.
I told S I was not exactly delighted with the e-mail from his staff and was considering a change of travel agent. After we talked it through, things were a lot better.

Mel - gotta love that kangaroo with the joey. Pity they don't all look that good. Nice clear instructions too. Maybe we will put you on the training payroll or the documenting side of it.

And with that, I had better go sort out for the next class. Then back to the office in town and home for some r & r and dinner. I'm looking forward to that. I'm looking even more forward to going home for Easter on Thursday night. Yeehaa

[suzi in auz]

Hello ladies!!!! It's only taken me three days to get here but better late than never eh?
to all!!! I know it's not yet but I am checking out those smilies, they really are cute.
Shad, thanks for starting the tour! Have you been to some of these beaut spots? I wish i had they look incredible! Don't leave town until you have seen the country they say!
speaking of which, I am leaving for NZ tomorrow 6pm Aus time. I have a week away to myself! well sort of but a week without house work and the runnings arounds of everyone here! it really will be a treat. I will wave to Rangitoto for you Shad and hug a tree! I am really looking foreward to this trip.
I am sure I will get computer time ( well maybe) while i am away. it will depend on how obliging the oldies are!
Glad to see you all are well and happy egg hunting, !
oh he is too cute!

[happy2bme]

Good morning ladies,

Quick hello. I have some early morning meetings today.

Have a safe trip Suzi. Enjoy your visit. Don't let your family bring you down.

Shad, whenever I'm looking for smilies I just Google "kangaroo smilie" and then I search the results which are usually related to various message boards. I sift through the ones, saving pics of those that I like.

Ceejay - OW on the bruises Take care of yourself, they say that most accidents happen within the home or within 5 miles if driving. Doesn't help that we get a little stumbly once in a while too.

I like your new avatar Madcat. Reminds me of my kitty and her "presents"

Hello Mel - who you gonna beat with an ugly stick today

Ok, gotta run for now. Hellos to the rest of the crew

[ceejay52]

Suzi--Have a safe trip but enjoy your time to yourself.

Madcat--I'm afraid of heights too but this bridge is to awesome not to cross.

Shad--My doctor is over seas on vacation so I'll have my sis, the nurse, look at it for me. I was concerned that I may have a hematoma. There is a bruise and a bump still there. It's still sore too.

Just received a phone call from my uncle telling me that his grand-daughter was bitten by a copper head snake (very poisonous) yesterday. Her leg was swollen this morning. Her doctor wants her to be in the children's hospital in Little Rock. She was born with diabetes. She's 8. We are all concerned. She's being air lifted.

Time to get back to work.

[Hollyhock]

I have been reading and catching up with everyone but apparently didn't post.
HUGS!!!!!

[carla49]

Crikey, who knew how long the flight here would be, and how hard it would be to drive backwards on the wrong side of the roads, dodging cane toads, crocs, and roos every few yards!!! At least I found some fashionable sunglasses to protect my eyes. I seem to have been in transit forever. That's my story, and I'm sticking to it...

Ceejay, so sorry to hear about that poor kid. I have a feeling snake bites are pretty painful, not to mention the danger factor. I'll try to think some positive thoughts for her swift recovery.
As for the big bathtub bruise, icing it may help a bit, and rubbing some arnica into it might speed recovery.

Shad, thanks for the gorgeous travel links. I'll have to copy them into a file for future reference - I'm hoping to do a month in NZ in 2009, followed by a couple of weeks in Aus. I'll be pestering you and Suzi for NZ ideas too.
I do hope you manage to cut through the internet/travel agency nonsense and get your reservations figured out. It seems to be entirely too difficult a process! I did look into flights from here to TO to join the Ontario gang there for a get-together. Since I'd be on a tight schedule, it would be rather pricey, which is not a problem in itself, BUT I've decided I really can't manage both a quick TO visit and the Big Sur trip. So let me know which you'd prefer.

Mel, I'm glad you have somewhere to stash all your stuff - and enough time to get it cleared away before Shad arrives. I do hope the weather will be perfect during her visit so you'll be able to get out with her!
I read something last week that claimed drinking lemon juice (in water, of course) can help with restless legs. It also said caffeine can cause the problem in the first place. Have you tried switching entirely (but gradually, to avoid the headaches) to all-decaf? I don't find it tastes any different, to be honest. I make my own little decaf espresso-based skim milk cappucinos every morning. Yum. I use one of the basic little Italian stovetop espresso pots, microwave the milk, add some Splenda, and use a milk frother for the foam. Yummy. If you have a gas stove the coffee is ready in seconds and makes a wonderful gurgle as it boils up, compared to my slower and quieter but equally effective electric stove method.

Suzi, enjoy your trip. I know from my own experience that visits to the family are not always free of angst. We seem to revert to angry teenage behaviour, and of course it's as if the oldsters put all their effort into finding the right buttons to push to make us turn into those unhappy 12-year olds filled with impotent rage. But it's great to reconnect with old friends, so let that be the icing on the cake. Besides the freedom from day-to-day cooking and cleaning and family management, of course.

Meadow, good to hear from you. Nice graphic!

Yesterday was a good scale day - down 9 pounds since the beginning of this little weight-loss attempt. Today was back up one, but I'm trying to remember that weight goes up and down regardless of what we eat, also that there was probably a lot of salt in the samples at Costco yesterday... It's nice to feel my clothes fitting a little better, even tho there's still so far to go. At least I'm doing something instead of complaining while I nosh on all the wrong things. I've quit the Fat Flush, despite it's effectiveness, and have moved on to a more normal diet. This one's based on a 1200 cal daily intake, well-balanced but it does allow limited starches. It's sort of a food exchange system like WW used to be, a certain number of fats, protein, etc. One of these days I may join Happy on-line at WW, but I'll stick with this for a few more weeks first. I'm not quite ready to start calculating point values yet...

Does anyone know why my smoothies don't thicken and foam up when I use frozen raspberries or blueberries? They work fine with the frozen strawbs, and I don't remember having this problem in the past. I'm using a different whey powder, but why doesn't it happen with the strawbs??? Help!!

Well, I'll have to head out. Time to throw a shrimp on the barbie and tie me kangaroo down, sport. All together now...

[MELODY525]

CARLA STRAWBERRIES HAVE MUCH MORE FIBER AND LESS JUICE IN THEM THAN THE OTHER BERRIES. MORE ICIER TOO. TRY ADDING AN ICE CUBE AND SEE IF IT WORKS. MAYBE 2 OR 3 WOULD BE BETTER. HURRAY FOR THE 9 LBS!!! I THINK I KNOW WHERE SOME OF THEM ARE!!! WELCOME HOME!!! LOVE THE KITTIE AND THE SHADES. SHADES OF DEJA VU AND THE 3-D MOVIES OF OLD!!!

CEEJAY~ I AM SO SORRY TO HEAR ABOUT THE POOR GIRL!! HOPE ALL GOES WELL AND SHE WILL BE FINE. LET US KNOW WHAT HAPPENS.

HAPPY~ MADCAT IS RIGHT...I AM STILL LAUGJHING ABOUT THE BOOK FINES!!

SHAD~ YES I WILL LEARN ALL I CAN FROM THE DELL COMPANY AND EMMIGRATE INTO YOUR COUNTRY TO WORK. WE CAN BE A TEAM!! SISTERS OF THE PIN I AM SITTING HER LAUGHING MY FOOL HEAD OFF AT THE THOUGHT!!

MADCAT~ WE HAVE AN ISH FOR AN ACCOUNTANT HERE. HE JUST LEFT US TO WORK IN CALIFORNIA!!! HOPE THE REFUND IS A BIG ONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TO HOLLY WHOFLIES IN AND OUT!!!

SUZI I AM SORRY I MISSED YOU.HAVE A GREAT TIME. FORGET ABOUT THE COMPUTER!!!!! WE WILL ALL STILL BE HERE WHEN YOU GET BACK!!!

I HAD A GOOD DAY. DID SOME FOOD SHOPPING. WENT FOR 2 RIDES. ONE WITH JEN AND ONE WITH JOHN OF MAINTENANCE. WE WENT AND GOT OUR LUNCH AT THE CORNER STORE. I WILL ADMIT TO ASTARBUCK'S ICED FRAPPUCCINO TOO. BAD MELLIE. COULDN'T HELP MYSELF!!!! MAYBE IF I BUY THEM ONE AT A TIME INSTEAD OF BY THE CASE, I WILL GET OFF THEM!!! THEY COST TOO MUCH FOR ME THAT WAY WE GOT INFO FROM A HEALTH AGENCY ABOUT PANDEMIC FLUS AND EMERGENCY INSTRUCTIONS LOKE 9/11. IS THERE SOMETHING THE STATE KNOWS AND IS NOT TELLING US???? I CAN JUST SEE THE SENIORS NOW WITH THIS NEW INFO. I TOLD A HANDFUL NOT TO WORRY AND IF ANYTHING HAPPOENS WE WILL ALL MEET IN THE COMMUNITY ROOM, BEND OVER AND KISSS OUR ASSES GOODBYE. THEY CRACKED UP AND WENT HOME SMILING. I MEAN...COME ON....WHAT IS SOMEONE 80-100 YRS OF AGE GOING TO DO IF THE BIRD FLU COMES TO PASS.
DRINK A LOT OF WINE I TOLD THEM!!!!
OK I NEED A SHOWER AND SOME DOWN TIME. I FEEL WIRED. NOT ONLY FROM THE COFFEE BUT FROM EVERYONE. I WAS THINKING TODAY WHILE I TOODLED AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD...THE REAL REASSON MY HEART STILL BEATS SO STRONGLY AND I STILL GET OUT OF BED EVERY MORNING IS PROBABLY BECAUSE OF THE EVER NEEDY "PEOPLE" IN MY LIFE. SO MAYBE I HAVE FOUND A NEW WAY OF LOOKING AT THINGS. I CAN ACTUALLY FEE THE STRESS LEAVING ME. IT MAY TAKE A WHILE LONGER TO "SET RIGHT" IN MY HEAD BUT I AM WELL ON THE WAY TO THE LAND OF CALMNESS. I FEEL IT IN MY BONES. ONLY TOOK ME 60 YRS TO GET HERE
HAPPY DAY TOMORROW AND HAVE A GOOD NIGHT!!

[carla49]

Mel, those little pink bunnies are seriously disturbing. I had to put the cursor on them to be sure they're not actually some bizarre variety of little DT devils... And stay off the frappucinos, or you know what we'll have to come do!!! Not just caffeine-laden, but I have a feeling they have a million calories or two...

[MELODY525]

ok i'll stop drinking the frappes

HOW ARE THESE BUNNIES? BETTER ON THE NERVOUS SYSTEM?

THE FRAPPUCCINOS ARE 180 CALORIES AND COME IN THESE LITTLE CUTE OLD FASHIONED SHAPED MILK BOTTLES...OR SOMETHING SIMILAR AS I RECALL.......

[Shad]

Uh Huh! morning all,

Nice to get out of the osprey's nest this morning. Bit cramped in there up in the tree tops with Carla and Holly and a couple of real birds.

I've done my run this morning - no time for the gym these days so I have taken to the streets for cardio sessions and try to get to the gym a couple of afternoons a week for the weight stuff. Run the majority of the distance this morning (about 4K) so I might put in for the 5k Bridge to City run in August yeah right. There was an old bloke walking up the otherside of the road today and as I got to the top of the hill, I heard movement behind me, and there he was not 3 metres away on my side of the road. I was not too happy about this so started to walk faster and finally to run. However he went on up the hill when I went down the road to the beachfront so I didn't have to get too excited about him after all. Nevertheless it is a lesson to keep alert to the things that go on around you when out there on your own. It wasn't too frightening as the area is well lit and there are quite a number of people around at that time of the morning, but it pays to be alert.

Ceejay, so sorry to hear about the little girl. I'm sending positive vibes and wishes her way.

Holly - good to see you back if only for a short period of time.

Madcat - Toronto (all being well and I can work out this flight) should be 10th to 14th June.

Carla - best if we meet up in Van or SF I think. No need to cram in more flights than necessary. It only ends up with holding onto fluids. I like the Big Sur idea better.

Mel - don't worry about Dell - I can teach you everything you want to know and more about training. Just bring the broomstick, the lash, and a few incentives such as jaffa's. You'll do okay.

Better go and get on with Reliability Maintenance. Oh the joys of training.

[MELODY525]

SHAD YOUR MAN STORY GAVE ME THE CHILLS AND REMINDED ME OF THAT LOVELY SUMMER MORNING ABOUT 2 YRS AGO WHEN A TRUCK WAS FOLLOWING ME!!!!!!!!!!

IT IS SO TRUE.....YOU NEVER KNOW.
HOPE YOUR DAY IS A LOVELY ONE. I GOOLGLED JAFFA AND ACCORDING TO WIKIPEDIA JAFFAS WERE AN ANCIENT TRIBE FROM THE MOVIE STARGATE BUT IF THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT....I WILL BRING A FEW OF THEM ALONG.....ALSO SOME HANDCUFFS AND ROPES AND CHAINS