Our first week back and it's not too bad. It has been a long week though. I'm sooooo tired.

Angie: It's still so warm here, I can't even imagine having snow right now. Be sure to stay warm.

Kempy: I'm glad things are getting back to normal for you. You were always in our thoughts and prayers; we're certainly glad to have you back.

Dips: I hope everything works out for you.

Julie: Ashley is going to dress up as Jasmine from Aladdin. It's her favorite princess...so far.

Noelle: Michael will be so cute. Be sure to post pictures. I'll try to do the same, but I usually have to email them instead.

Cherie: Enjoy your vacation!!

Have a good night everyone.

Cal

Hey ladies, how's your Friday evening turning out? I am almost out the door to go pick up a pumpkin and some Halloween candy. My sis did some pretty neat artwork on her pumpkins. She got the idea from a magazine, but she did her own designs. Her pumpkin has a giant smile painted across the front with some freaky looking eyes. Then she painted another one dark bottle green (as in Heineken), and painted the label on the front, just like the real thing complete with the red star. If I can get the camera back this evening I will shoot some pics of it. She did it for my other sis who is going to a party. Everyone going to the party has to bring a pumpkin either carved or painted or decorated in such a way that everyone else will know who that pumpkin represents...and well, my oldest sis, I guess she likes to drink It's pretty cool. I'm just gonna carve mine up with a nice 6" chefs knife

Hi Cal. We're having some hot temps here as well, but lots of rain coming still. Do something relaxing this weekend and do take some pics of your princess Jasmine at Halloween as well.

Kempy, I'm glad Echo's pups will be going to good homes. I think Pluto would be a good name for a yellow lab--but then I've still got Disney on the brain... wait, I think Pluto was the Roman name ...Artemis the goddess of the (duck)hunt would be an excellent name for a duck hunting dog

Julie, wow your mom is so young. My oldest sis is 46 herself (she'd faint if she knew I was telling anyone this ) . Have you found her the perfect present yet? I will say a prayer for your dad to keep safe during his journey. Your kids sounded adorable in their costumes. I remember when Michael was 4 he dressed up in a Spiderman costume at school. Another kid dressed as one of the Wiggles(?) kept tailing him the whole night. It seems this kid wanted to be Spiderman but his mom had already bought him the other costume. He kept trying to pull Michael's mask off, it was pretty funny and annoying at the same time

i gotta stop here. Hi to Angie, Cherie, Holly, Dips and everyone else. Have a great weekend.

Happy Halloween!!! Stay out of the candy bowl or there won't be any left to give out to the kiddies! I bought 2 bags of that mixed candy (junky ones that I don't really care for--i know the neighborhood kids will love me ) and I've got those mini bags of microwave popcorn to give out. Michael will be skipping out on karate lessons tonight so he can go trick or treating. I think I'll be dressing up Lucky and take her for a walk. I don't know if she'll be Darth Vader, Snow White or Superdog...we shall see.

OMG girls, I have got yet another horror story to add to my 'car maintenance and repair' file. Y'all know how I used to tell those stories about the Ford service dept? Well this one is about Nissan. I brought the Murano in on Thursday @ 8am for a regular maintenance, for a recall notice and to get the tires re-balanced. Well anyway, they kept it for the whole day and at close to 4 pm they call to say it's done. I drive home on the freeway and get it up to about 60 mph to check if there's any kind of shimmy in the steering--there was none at all so I was extremely pleased with the balancing job. The next morning I brought Michael to school and came right back (all of a 1/2 mile drive maybe?). Then I didn't drive it again until I had to pick him up. I did a few other errands at the same time but all within a 3 mi. radius from home. Right before I pull into his school I hear a rattling noise, it sounded like I was dragging a tin can. So I get to his school and one of the teachers comes and tells me she hears a noise from my tire. I pull over and look everything over and see nothing unusual. I thought one of the balancing weights had some off and maybe was rattling around, but after almost sliding under the car and checking things out, I still didn't see anything. So I just drive home slowly. Rick gets home and checks the tires, nothing there visually. He opens up the cap on the rim and a freakin' lug nut comes falling out. THat was the rattling noise. On top of that, another one was almost ready to fall off--and the other 4 were loose, like the stupid mechanic had only hand-tightened (FINGERTIPS!?!!) the lugs and did not use a wrench of any kind. My damn wheel could've came right off. It's a good thing I didn't drive into town or anything. I was so pissed off. My God! their incompetence could've killed me and my kid. I am writing a letter to their service dept. mgr., the president of the company and to the corp. office @ Nissan North America expressing my extreme displeasure about their employees' incompetence. Come on now, they're supposed to be the professionals. *shudder*

With that scary thought...have a happy halloween. Be back later.

Happy Halloween

BOO

Noelle that is just down right scary about the car!! Glad you are safe. I hope Michael has a spooktacular time tonight! I have got tons of the "good" chocoalte candy here. I think I ate enough last weekend though to hold me over, LOL.

Dips great job on the midterms

Cal I hope Ashley has a fun time tonight.

Cherie, are you coming back today? What are the girls costumes this year? Miss ya and can't wait to hear about your trip!

Kempy how was the banquet?

Angie are the kids going out tonight?

Hi Holly.

I might carve a pumpkin or two for the porch tonight. I just love Halloween. It is not suppose to rain anymore so that is good. We went out for dinner Friday night for a fish fry. It was excellent. I have not had that in a long time. Also we went to mom's for her birthday and had a little party. I ended up getting her a spa/hair gift certificate. We had a red velvet cake with cream cheese frosting. It was so good. Like I didn't get enough sugar. We made a trip to the museum. I also got my dad to the airport. As of now he is going to be in Miami. I scrubbed the all the floors on my hands and knees yesterday and feel kind of sore today. Age must be catching up with me . Anyway ladies wanted to wish you all a Happy Halloween
Have a great day

Hey Girls!! Happy Halloween!! I am sick today my throat feels like someone grated it with a cheese grater. LOL I have been laying around all day today. No my kids arent going out for candy but they are using it as an excuse to go walking with friends. we will see.

I just found out this weekend that jays parents give my kids half the money they give the others for birthdays and Christmas. WTF!!!! I am so pissed. I emailed my other sisterinlaw because they have always hated her too to see if it is the same for her kids and it is. Nice and fair huh. The first born grandaughter is a little pothead who they spoil rotten. They paid for college which she quickly flunked out of after a year and then she got knocked up by some random guy so they built her a really nice house for free. I am so pissed.

Hello everyone! Happy Halloween! I am back.. Sorry I didn't get any postcards sent out.. but two of our ports were cancelled due to Wilma and the other two were so small, I wasn't really able to get out and find a place to pick up any cards. :-(

The girls and I got back late last night, and I am here at work today. My brain is still telling me I'm on the ship, because everything keeps rocking. I'm hoping in a couple of days, I'll get back to normal! :-)

The cruise was good.... it started out rocky, for the first day and a half... the boat rocked so much, we ended up laying down all day because it just didn't seem as bad as when we were up. The two ports that I wanted to see, Playa del Carmen and Cozumel were closed because Wilma just tore them up. We were able to port at Belize City, Belize and Roatan, Honduras... but we spent most of our time out on the ocean. I found the boat a little constricting, I like exploring, and there is only so much you can explore on a boat, but overall.. I am glad I had the opportunity to take a cruise... However, I will probably never go on another one. It's just not my thing.. well, at least for another 30 to 40 years! (lots of old people!)

After seeing some of my pictures from the cruise... I am starting back on my diet. The good thing is.. even though I was on a 7 day cruise.. I don't think I really gained any weight.. the pants I gauge my weight gain and loss by still fit... so I am happy. :-) I am going to see if I can post a picture.... if not, I'll try again!


OK.. I can't .. my picture is too big.. but I did go do that thing that Noelle posted about where we all are.. and I posted the picture there!

OK.. I need to go back and catch up when I can get the chance... but right now, I need to get back to work. :-)

Talk to you all soon!

Cherie

Welcome back Cherie. I'm so sorry Wilma put a crimp on your cruising but glad you had a good time anyway--and no weight gain . I know what you mean about "old people" on cruises They're the ones that have the time and money to go, eh? I'm sure there are different demographics for different destinations though... have you heard about the "Chocolate Cruise"? oops, bad me, this is supposed to be dieting website Hey, that's a nice picture of you on the boat!

Angie, get better soon girl. Drink some hot tea w/lemon, that always helps my throat. I don't know why families do the gift-giving "game"...do your in-laws think the other family won't find out the difference? We have the same situation w/my BIL (my oldest sis' husband). He gives extravagant gifts to my two nieces because he feels "sorry" for them, as if they're disadvantaged because their mother (my #6 sis) isn't married to their father (even though they live together). He gave one niece a Nintendo DS last year, and gave the other one a laptop computer. This is just because they asked him for it. I teach my son not to ask for things like that--and if he does, he'll only get them for stuff like Christmas or a birthday, not everyday kind of giving, ya know? Oh, and my sis and BIL gave Michael some kind of board game... and it wasn't more than $20, But oh well...

Julie, even though you got into the halloween candy a bit at least you burned some calories scrubbing that floor. My #2 sis just told me that she had 11 bags of halloween candy in her house, and as of yesterday, only 4 were left ....so don't feel bad Hope your kiddos have a great time trick-or-treating as well. Stay safe and warm! I'll be carving my pumpkin this afternoon as well.

Dips, congrats on your mid-terms. Hey girl, I knew you were youngest one here but damn! 10 years younger than me If you don't get a chance to pop in before then, HAPPY early BIRTHDAY wishes to you!!! Enjoy your youth!

Hi to Kempy, Holly, Cal and everyone...gotta run and get some more work done. Have a fun Halloween!!!

Good Morning everyone! I still have a cold but at least my throat doesnt hurt as bad today. I just feel blah.

Cherie, I am glad you are back. I am sorry you didnt get to go to the ports you wanted to though, did they give you guys any compensation for not getting to do the things that you paid to do. Congrats on coming home without a weight gain. Me and Jay want to do a cruise just for the food.

Noelle, I forgot to add yesterday that I am glad you caught the tire problem before your wheel fell off. Geesh, You would think they would know better than that. Some people. I remember you telling us about your BIL giving Micheal a boardgame. That is so low. Do you think these people think that the kids cant figure it out? I know I should take it as a compliment because it means deep down they know we take good care of our kids but when the kids are the ones figuring it out it is hard to explain to them. Plus My in laws are the first people to say bad **** about us and our parenting so that sucks.

Julie, did the kiddos have a fun Halloween? I hope so. My kids didnt dressup or anything this year. Jay said we are officially old. Corey and Brit hung out uptown with their friends and Alicia stayed home with us to hand out candy( I think it was mostly so that if Brit and Corey got in trouble than she wouldnt be involved....she is the good kid. ). Mickey and Rebel had fun last night. They didnt know what to think of all these people coming to our front door. They would both jump up in the chair and keep a lookout for kids. It was pretty cute.

Hey girls, I started us a FRESH new thread for November....the Sept. thread was getting a bit long, especially since we kept it thru October. Let's get the party started and head on over to Weighty Issues #32