Bay St entrance it is!!!!!!
I am haivng a leisurly morning. Slept til 8 , having a coffee. Church at 10:15, 50th wedding anniversary at 4ish. Much to do in between. I have the house in a pretty good routine now the clutter can be sorted out in less than an hour. Used to take over 4 hours.I would really like to get out in the yard so much weeding and mulching to do.

At the African Lion Safari we saw a herd of elk and a new born just born that morning. Thought of Nae. They are so regal and big.

Think I need to move to the porch swing.

HOLLY PLEASE DON'T GET LOST! WEAR A NAMETAG! :lol3:
HOPE YOU THREE HAVE A GREAT TIME. HAVE A DRINK FOR ME!!:cheers: THE SAFARI SOUNDED A GREAT LADIES DAY!!

MADCAT~ IT TOOK OVER 2 HOURS FOR ME TO LOAD AOL TODAY. COMPUTER IS ACTING UP BIGTIME SO SHAD NEVER GOT YOUR MESSAGE. SHE HAS TAKEN THE PHONE # WITH HER AND WILL RING YOU WHEN SHE GETS THERE! THE AIRMAIL PACKAGE IS ON IT'S WAY!! NO NEED TO HANDLE WITH CARE....IT'S BRAVE AND TOUGH!! :rofl: :rofl: HAVE A GREAT TIME.:dance:

I WILL BE LOST WITHOUT THE COMPANY FOR A FEW DAYS I AM SURE. MY GRANDSON WILL NEVER BE THE SAME. I THINK HE MISSES HER ALREADY!! :lol3: JEN AND SHAD ARE ON THE WAY TO THE AIRPORT. WHILE IN THE OFFICE ON FRIDAY WE GOT TO MEET WITH THE MAYOR. WHEN WE LEFT, HE TOLD EVERYONE HOW BRAVE WE WERE TO MEET ON THE NET AND FOR SHAD TO COME ALL THIS WAY. HE IS STILL IN SHOCK :faint: POOR SOD!! TOLD MY FRIEND HE CANNOT BELIEVE I WOULD DO SOMETHING LIKE THIS...LOL ANOTHER SIDE OF ME HE DOESN'T KNOW EXISTS. MY NEXT PROJECT WILL BE THE MIL AND RICHIE'S KIDS. MORE DRAMA. LOL I'LL SPARE YOU THE DETAILS. ALL IS WELL HERE IN NJ. :cb:
IF I SHOULD MAGICALLY DISAPPEAR IT WILL BE BECAUSE OF THE COMPUTER CRASHING. I HAVE A FUNNY FEELING IT'S GETTING READY AGAIN TO GO BYE BYE.
OK GOING TO TRY AND POST THIS NOW.
HAPPY SUNDAY AND HOPE EVERYONE HAS A GREAT DAY!!
:moped:

Yesterday's cappucino did the trick, and I finally made it out for a good hike. Not my favourite trail, but variety is the spice of life, and I hadn't been there in 2 or 3 years. Because of the storm the night before, it was muddy in spots, and of course the mountain bikers had gotten there much earlier than me and made a terrible mess of some of the wetter bits. They're not allowed on the hiking paths, but since there's no way to control usage, they go anyway.

Shad, don't worry, I won't take you on that trail. Too much of it is in the woods with no view, or on the park service roads. I think you may be hankering for a good sweaty workout, so a hike it is. I'm wavering between the Wolf Trail and the Luskville Falls Trail. Wolf is closer, and has the advantage of being next to a lake where we can cool off after. :swim: But if it's a very hot day the parking lot may be full long before we can get there. Luskville is a further drive, no lake, and may be a bit too rocky for your footwear... Of course I'm keeping the Parc Oméga/Montebello option available, but again it's over an hour's drive from Ottawa, and you may have had enough of sitting in cars by the time you get here. I can promise no museums are on the agenda - in fact I was relieved :carrot: :broc: to learn they're not your thing. But I was willing to grit my teeth and go museuming if that was your preference...

Ruth, there shouldn't be a problem with me coming to collect Shad, either staying over on the 14th or meeting you part-way for a hand-off early on the 15th. We can talk and decide later. I'm still hoping I can convince Shad that she really doesn't want to stay in TO on the 13th... :devil:
Glad to hear Hershey's okay, and I'm looking forward to meeting her.

Madcat, by this evening you and Shad may be sipping drinks on your balcony as you watch the sun go down. :cheers: Lovely! (I'd wave at you, but my balcony faces NE, so I can't quite see you sitting there...) What do you have planned for your day tomorrow? Besides the visit to the bus station to collect Holly - a Toronto gem often forgotten on tour itineraries...:D

Mel, you've probably already packed the package into a cab for another death-defying run to the airport, and now you're giggling to yourself as you pull those hidden frapps out of their nice hiding place... in the toilet tank? under your chair cushion? deep in the bag of birdseed? Go ahead and enjoy it - July 5th is coming soon. And I'll email or PM you the short version of the diet - I think I may still have a copy of the PM I sent someone else which explains it in some detail. I do recommend you borrow a copy of the book to read through - there are some recipes and a Q&A section that might be helpful. But don't buy it - too much money, too little substance. I think you had decided against it because of a low blood sugar issue, but if you space your meals and snacks and don't under-eat, there shouldn't be a problem. Of course I eat gigantic salads at lunch, and tons of veg at dinner, so I do get filled up. Good luck with it! (Yes, the amount of veg and protein seems a bit costly at first, but removing all the sweets and breads and good things balances the cost out.)
And here's a :hug: for you - I just have a feeling you might need one right now.

Ceejay, enjoy your visit with your aunt and uncle. Hope the sinuses are behaving! Here the problem at the moment is the grass, at least that's what the weather channel tells me. All I know is I'm taking a lot of antihistamines, and yet the nose and head seem to stay full, and the sneezes keep coming. At least it's not painful, just annoying.

Meadow, I'm glad to know you and your house don't have wet feet...
And thanks for your kind words about my headache yesterday. They're not really that big a deal, just annoying. Not a migraine or anything. Probably just something I ate - or didn't eat, or the weather, or hormones, or stressing out about my messy house and oh no how will I ever get it clean before Shad gets here - can't just do the more public bits, it has to be clean enough for the cat sitter who'll be living here for two weeks, help!, oh good I have a headache and can't wash floors/scrub toilets/dust and tidy right now, better to just have a nice nap... :rofl:

Happy, I'm with you on the not-an-early-riser bit. But I'll be up at the crack when Shad leaves - her flight is at 7 am... :dz: The good news is that will give me lots of time to do a quick laundry and final tidy before I go back out for my own flight at 2 pm. The good news is that I don't work until Sunday night, so I'll be able to relax and rest up - maybe even go for a short hike in the mountains!

Well, I've been up since 5 (da***d cats), so I think it just might be time for a nap. :yawn:

I will be the one with pretty pink toenails!!

I am bathed, feet exfoliated, toenails trimmed( polish later), breaky eaten, family hung out with.

To Do after church
-5 loads of laundry
-bake a casserole
-pack Avon
-clean bathrooms

I will leave yard work til Tuesday and get almost a full day of it!!!!

Yes, Shad, please do consider leaving The Big Smoke on the 13th. Carla and I just chatted and fought over your body so... Seriously though, arriving Wednesday would give us a bit more time before that Carola person kidnaps you and takes you into the wilds of Gatineau Park - "gat-knaw" to the Valley locals and "gat-in-oh" to the rest of us.

Got a call after Church today that my expected company cancelled so I don't need to cook a fancy lunch and can go and play in the earth shortly! Yippee! I'm such a selfish and shallow person but.....

Hershey is still fine. I took Lucy to Church this morning with a rum cake. She did get some crumbs but there was no major sinning for a change.

Whoops! after 12 and I'd better get going.

Well it looks like the American Leg of the Jumping for Joy tour has come to an end. So long to plan, anxiously awaiting it's arrival and then gone in a flash. :( Hope the Canadian tour is as much fun as the American side.

Glad that you had a good time at my place Shad. (She told me that I have to move again before she comes again so she can see a different part of the country again. :lol: ) I don't know, we haven't decided yet. Next move might be northeast - a bit north of Mel but closer to her than we are now. Of course now that you're gone, I'm thinking of all these things that we should have done but didn't. Anyway - have fun Shad - sounds like this next round will be fun. Safe travels to you. And better cabbies ;) although it sounds like you got the typical New York cabbie experience.

Mel - had to laugh at Carla's description of you hiding the frappacino's in the birdseed, toilet tank, etc :rofl: Not such a bad idea :chin: Sounds like you had a great time with Shad - glad you guys were able to get together. You have to tell us about your time together when it doesn't take you 2 hours to coax the computer to work. Now it's back to seniors and alarms and the dullness of the regular life again, eh?

Carla - I'm sure she will enjoy a nice strenuous hike. We walked up a slight incline at the hotel one day and I was huffing and puffing so the only good workout she got from me was the day I had to work in the morning and she did some running on the treadmill and checked out the stepper in my exercise room. She did say she was missing the exercise.

Glad to hear the puppies are doing fine. Hide that rum cake Ruth. :D

Eaton Centre? I remember that place. I see they are celebrating their 30th anniversary. I must have been there about 2 years after they opened. Still have the scarf and sweater I bought in one of the shops out there. In fact Eaton Centre is the only place I remember from my trip to TO long ago. That and some cool looking architecture. Have a good get together ladies.

I probably should recap some of the highlights of what we did when Shad was here:

1. Introduced her to new food - battered and deep fried green beans, battered and deep fried dill pickles. To both she said :snooty: :tape: after politely taking a bite. If they can catch it here, they batter it up and stick it in a fryer. :lol:
2. Took her to a "museum" before we knew she didn't like museums - but does Graceland count as a museum? Guess it does.
3. Tried to fix her up with a new man in her life - we had great fun sitting out on the square in the Ozarks, chatting it up as the people of the town gathered around the "pickin' porch" to listen to the impromptu concerts each night. The music was toe stomping and several men came by and smiled and said hello. I reminded Shad she had 2 keys to her room and I'd look aside if she met a new "friend" :rofl: None to her liking I guess. Considering they were all 20 years older than us with baggy overalls and big hats probably lessened the appeal. Tho they were darn nice folk - can't take that away from them.
4. Visited a cave - that was a gorgeous tour. Probably the highlight of the week.
5. Got a speeding ticket on the way home - We don't believe the officer's story - think it's one of those rackets where they catch the out of towners who won't drive 100 miles back in to fight the ticket. Easy revenue for the town/county. :mad:
6. Visited the zoo - got in a good walk. Saw the pandas. Got some nice pictures in the live butterfly tent.
7. Had dinner down on Beale street and listened to a bit of music - one place was better than the next but we went on a weeknight and it was pretty dead on the strip. Still she got a taste of what it was like.

And of course there was time for a whole lot of yakking. Glad she could make it through our way.

And now it's time to get off the computer and go get some real work done. Have a good Sunday peeps. Hope Madcat and Shad find each other tonight. Have a sip for me :cheers:

Hey chicklets!

So The Package has probably landed by now and is waiting... and waiting... and waiting for her luggage. :lol: I'm going to give here a ring at her hotel once I am relatively sure she has had time to make it downtown and check-in. Thanks Mel. Sorry she didn't get my message but i am sure we will manage a hookup.

I'm not sure what is on the agenda for tomorrow. I know she expressed a wish to see Chinatown so we'll probably go there, and Kengsington Market. We may WALK BY the museum to see its new facade. :lol: We'll play it by ear - Maybe even do a trip to the Beaches and wander the boardwalk. I’ll check and see if there is anything burning she wants to see… and maybe Holly has a few “must sees”. The city is our oyster and it’s a place best seen by just wandering.

Ahem, Ruth, I doubt highly you are either selfish or shallow! Holly~ We’ll see you tomorrow. And my toenails are pink too… You might want to wear comfy shoes. And darn, I now that the African Lion Safari theme song stuck in my head. Carla~ variety is good in hiking. Have fun planning where you’ll be hiking our Shad. Mel~ You should enjoy the peace and quiet. It’s good that you can keep everyone guessing – even the mayor. You should have told him you bought her on eBay. :lol:

Geez, I better run off. I have to go out to visit my friend for a bit. I have promised her blackout curtains to make movie-viewing easier in her bright living room... but I've lost the measurements I did about 2 weeks ago. I may cheat and just go see what IKEA has. The challenge is I want her to be able to move them out of the way when she WANTS sunshine.

K. I’m getting a move on. I’ll check in later. Waves to all the other chicks lurking posting and such.

MEADOW~ NOT SURE HOW I FORGOT YOUR POST. MUST HAVE BEEN WHEN SHAD WAS MANNING THE COMPUTER. I PUT HER IN CHARGE OF POSTING. SHE TYPES FASTER THAN I DO!! :rofl: I AM GLAD THE WATER HAS NOT REACHED YOU AND HOPE IT STAYS FAR AWAY FROM YOUR FRONT DOOR....OR ANY DOOR FOR THAT MATTER:faint: THE FLOWERS SOUND SO WONDERFUL. I REALLY MISS THE SMELL OF FRESH CUT FLOWERS IN THE HOUSE. SIGH. IN MY NEXT LIFE I INTEND NOT TO HAVE ALLERGY PROBLEMS!!! :dance:

IT TOOK ME ALL THIS TIME BUT I GOT INSIDE THE COMPUTER'S WORKINGS AND TOLD THE PC AND ALSO AOL TO RESTORE THEMSELVES BACK TO A PREVIOUS DATE. I CHOSE JUNE 1ST. IT TOOK FOREVER TO GET THERE BUT THE RESTORE WAS QUICK. IT WAS THE COMPUTER AS I SURMISED. AFTER THE AOL FIX I STILL HAD THE PROBELEM SO THAT'S WHEN I LAUNCHED THE PC RESTORE. HOPEFULLY TOMORROW IT WILL TURN ON A LOT FASTER THAN 2 HOURS :yikes: :dizzy:
LET ME SEE IF I CAN RECAP. IF I AM NOT RIGHT SHAD CAN EDIT IT. :rofl:
ARRIVAL WAS THURSDAY AND WE GABBED AND ATE AND GABBED SOME MORE. JEN WAS WITH US AND STAYED UP ALSO. THEN SHAD AND I GABBED SOME MORE KEEPING THE POOR BIRD AWAKE.
FRIDAY: WE WOKE AND ATE SOME MORE. WENT FOR A WALK. I COULDN'T GET HER TO THE WATER FRONT AS MY PATH WAS BLOCKED SO WE WENT ON THE AVENUE TO SHOP AND FOUND NO STORES:faint: EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED A LOT SINCE I WAS LAST THERE!! :lol3:
IT WAS BRUTALLY HOT OUT(I THINK SO) AND HUMID. WE CAME BACK AND ATE SOME MORE. GABBED A LOT AND ATE SOME MORE. STARTING TO GET THE PICTURE??? :rofl:
SATURDAY: JEN AND RICHIE FOUND US IN THE LOBBY WAITING FOR A CAB FOR SHADDIE TO GO TO THE STATUE OF LIBERTY AND THEY DECIDED TO TAKE HER AND CHANGE THEIR UNINTERESTING MISSION.( HIS LAWYER) SHAD SURVIVED THEIR COMPANY, ATE SALMON AND CAME BACK. WE GABBED AND ATE SOME MORE! :rofl:
WE WATCHED A LOT OF DECORATORS ON TV PAINT THE TOWN RED!! ONE OF SHADDIE'S FAVORITE COLORS!!
SUNDAY WE GABBED OUR WAY THRU SHAD REPACKING AND SHE AND JEN LEFT FOR THE AIRPORT. JEN CAME BACK AND SAID THE PARCEL WAS SAFELY AND SOUNDLY DELIVERED! I WILL PROBABLY SLEEP FOR A WEEK!! :rofl:
THE ALARMS WERE UNCOMMONLY SILENT AND EVEN THE DOOR BELLS ONLY RANG TWICE. MAYBE THEY HAD HEARD ABOUT THE STRANGE VISITOR FROM OZ AND WERE FRIGHTENED!! I AM OFF TO GO AND GET MY CHAIRS SO THEY CAN COME HOME TO ROOST AGAIN. SEE YA TOMORROW. HAVE A GREAT AFTERNOON:beach:

Had a post but the internet went down in the cafe - blurk. :tantrum:

Suffice to say I am here. I have spoken to Carla and Madcat in that order. I will talk to you all again tomorrow.

Bye.

Hey all you Canadians, bear in mind that the "air mail parcel" has never had authentic maple syrup. Now don't go giving her that super sweet maple candle shaped like a maple leaf :nono: I forgot Shad that I was going to make you some of that oatmeal that tastes like an oatmeal raisin cookie - that's a not too bad way to taste maple syrup. I was supposed to grill you up some salmon too. :o - next time - you'll have to come back again. DH ate the trail mix you bought. He tried to give me the banana chips but I said no way and managed to grab a small handful before he finished the bag off. It was pretty good. He's into the jar and eating my Jaffas too. :devil: Guess he must be on a sugar jones again.

Sounds like you did enough eating there Miss Mel. Sure did stretch a pot of shrimp and a bowl of alfredo, didn't you? I'm glad things were quiet for you and you could enjoy your visit.

Sounds like Shad and Madcat didn't meet up tonight. Rest up Shad, I think there will be lots of walking for the next few days which I'm sure will suit you fine.

Hellos to the Canadian contingent - Madcat, Holly, Ruth, Carla, Meadow - have a grand time over the next few days. Do tell us what you decide on doing - the juicier the story the better we like it ;)

And hellos to the rest of the crew - Nae, Suzi, Mel, Ceejay. I'm off to go hem my slacks and prep lunch for tomorrow. Night all... pleasant dreams and safe travels.

Yippee the parcel has contacted the Mrs Madcat. I just spoke with Mrs Mad. All is well. She is devising a clever sign to hold up at the bus satation for me. We have exchanged cell#'s. I am incredibly excited now that my weekend is completed.
I will have clean underwear on. All my laundry is done.

HUGS!!!

Thanks, all for the encouragement about yoga. I have most of the day free tomorrow and think I'll go "drop in" a couple of places and see what I think. I have re-found my ENORMOUS sunglasses, so perhaps I'll feel incognito enough to take myself out in public.:cool:
Not that I'm really agoraphobic... but I've been reading a bit about body dysmorphic disorder, and like lots of people who find a new disease, I'm trying to figure out whether that's me or not. Most people with it are miserable with specific body parts (usually skin or hair).... I just hate the BULK. :o

Glad that the last rounds of R-storms didn't get anybody. We worked in the yard yesterday and rescued a Nandina from an overly agressive vine, and also pulled in the imperialist tendrills of all of the herbs in my herb garden. Who knew that Rosemary could get SO BIG.

Shad-- glad you are having fun....
TTYL

Hi to all,
Wow, Shad is in Canada already. I'm anxious to read of this part of her trip.

PainterWoman-Gardening is good for the soul. I think that's why I like to visit my uncle's. He has all kinds of flowers.

Hello to all the rest. It's waayyy past bedtime.

Morning all ~ Just a quick check-in. As mentioned I did manage to talk to both Shad and Holly yesterday and we are all set for our meet up today. I would have liked to be able to meet with Shad last night but I got caught up wrangling software for my friend. I spent 3 hours downloading Microsoft Office so that she could apply her registration key just to find out that the particular flavour of Office could not actually be downloaded but had to be installed by the retailer who sold her the laptop. It wasn't there. I checked. Idiots! now she has to go back to them to get them to fix their mistake. They better be willing to make a housecall, since she can't, obviously, go to them. As far as I can tell Vista is a horrifying operating system.

All in all, a frustrating and unsatisfactory day yesterday. Came home and was just overwhelmingly sad. I have to learn how to let some of this go. Going out to play today will help. That and maybe a few drinks! :lol:

I'll let everyone know how the great Kiwi invasion goes. And hey, I understood what she was saying! :rofl: :rofl:

Morning chicks,

I'm off to the new job this morning. First order of business is figuring out how to empty all those packing boxes into one cubicle - I have merged 2 locations worth of stuff into one place. Toss is the order of the day I think, Then it's shifting through wads of emails and ridding myself of 3 years worth of stuff from the old job. Should be an easy select and delete, do you think?

Would rather be meeting at Eaton Centre or even the lovely :shrug: TO bus station and playing with the chicks.

Have a great time chicks. Will be with you in spirit.

I think Shad practiced her elocution because I didn't have any problem understanding her either.

Later chickies... :wave: