Only 10 days 13 hours and 26 minutes left
until Christmas!
THAT'S ALL CEEJAYS FAULT!!! ROFL SHE GOT ME INTO THE XMAS MOOD WHEN HER POST LANDED IN MY MAILBOX! I AM IN THE SAME BOAT AS YOU CEEJAY....GAINED 3 LBS AND PANTS ARE SNUG. ALL THE FAT CLOTHES WENT INTO THE GARBAGE AND GOOD WILL SO THERE IS NO TURNING BACK!!! YIKES!!! GOOD LUCK TO US BOTH!

MADCAT YOU CAN'T BE A GATE CRASHER CAUSE THERE NEVER IS A GATE!!! TIS IS THE MOST OPEN DOOR FORUM I HAVE EVER BEEN ON. I LIKE THE MICKEY D'S RECEPTION IDEA....YOU CAN SERVE HAPPY MEALS....THEY EVEN HAVE A TOY INSIDE FOR THE GUESTS MOMENTO!! :rofl: :lol3: I AM VERY GLAD YOU CAME HERE! YOU WERE TRULY MISSED AND THE FEW TIMES I STOPPED IN THE JOURNALS, YOU WEREN'T THERE!!!!
SO PLEASE STAY. I GET TIRED OF CHASING PEOPLE AROUND! LOL

HOLLY~I AM HAVING A COFFE-LESS BREAK TOO. WISH I COULD PUT SOME OF THE SENIORS ON THE BUS WITH THE KIDS....EVEN IF IT'S FOR A SHORT TIME! :rofl:

:moped: I AM REALLY GOING THIS TIME....I FINALLY GOT 2 E-MAIL NOTIFICATIONS ONE WAS FROM YESTERDAY!!! IT ARRIVED TODAY!! ROFL MAYBE THERE WILL BE MORE! ROFL TTFN AGAIN

Hi Everyone,

My name is Lisa and I'm 32. I guess saw your posts and wanted to know if I could join your group. The posts about the gym stuff cracked me up. My hair is always messed up, so I guess that's a good sign.

I just joined this site a couple of days ago and I love the support from everyone.

Take care.

Lisa

:D

Good morning Lisa - you're very welcome to join the madness, mayhem and caring that goes on here. Come in, sit down, join me for my 5.am coffee :cofdate: . It's my no exercise day today or this would be written at 4.00am. And the temperatures are rising here in Aus. We are already at 27C and heading for 35 and a thunderstorm. Thats 84F and 100F.

Gotta go head for the shower. Be back later.

Hi Joy,

Thanks for the warm welcome. Wow, I would love those temps. Here it's getting very cold and we expect to have snow/ice storm Thursday night into Friday. Just enough to make the morning commute miserable!!

I hope everyone is doing well. Tomorrow I'm working out, then Friday I'm working half a day and running Christmas errands, so no gym for me!!

Take care.

Lisa :)

just a quicky im supposed to be doing the groceries lol WELCOME MORILLI come join the mayhem this bunch are the absolute best
bye for now ,forgot to order peppers for the goulash
kirsty

Hi Linus,

Thanks for the welcome!

I'm going home in about 40 minutes. Good, I'm tired of working today! LOL!

Talk to everyone later. Have a great evening!

Lisa

:D

I can't believe it's been 5 days and 10 screens since I posted. :flow2:
I'm glad this list knows how to vent AND how to get over it... I'm often startled by what pushes whose buttons, including my own. With ExH, I complained but didn't want anybody to agree with me, and then when the inevitable split was happening, I moped around and people weren't sympathetic at all. Don't suppose I might have given them mixed messages, do you? :dizzy:

Shad-- so how is your new assignment? I cleared the cache and had to re-log in... but I think I'm going to have to rely on my memory to come here and post. Uh ho. The light displays you posted are terrific. I agree with your soapbox spiel that there's no excuse for people messing with them. We had news stories like that here, too. (Of course, what passes for TV "news" is another rant!). Is your tornado/flood/lightening season over yet? As the world population increases, I think stupid people may indeed be getting stupider... You've heard of the Darwin Awards? Awards for people who do FATAL stupid things before reproducing themselves? The guy on the roof in the lightning may be a candidate.....

Mel- you win the award for using the most smilies... And making me laugh out loud... Are you out of the closet now? Not stuck in dry cleaning bags? Not only do you need an air-horn and can of pepper spray, but apparently a lance would be a good idea, too.

CeeJay- the weather sounds like it's been giving you fits. When it freezes do you have waterworks problems at your job? We've had several hard freezes here (finally) and I whacked down the hibiscus and some perennials with a CHAIN SAW. I finally understand what guys like about power tools.:devil:

Roseblush - Glad your mom's wrist is OK, hope the fever is gone. I don't have a clue what to think about a male nurse named Rolando...Is he an ER kind of nurse? or Scrubs? Or One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest?!

Tig - sorry that the arthritis Dx was confirmed, but glad that it wasn't anything dire and dramatic. I finally have enough blankets on the bed that I don't "scrunch" when I'm sleeping... I wake up much less tense.

Happy - glad the knee bends are useful.... I've been doing some general stretches... the above-mentioned yard work stretched out my ankles... so that's a new wrinkle.

Linus-- Congrats on the female addition to your family. I was sorried that all those names would spell something horrid. G.L.A.C. sounds safe enough. I hope you have more help from family and friends so you can sit and enjoy your DARLING little one. He doesn't LOOK like my idea of Satan!! Perhaps the meds will help. My oldest had ear infections almost constantly for her first year... and pediatrician was clueless. When we moved and went to a new MD he recommended tubes for her ears... and it turned DD was actually quite charming.:o I had to laugh at your understatement about DS1(?) having a wee bit of bother with the law-- I hope it's settling down... So many kids that age act out... especially if things at home are in a jumble.

Meadow... glad to have flashing AB at the conclusion of your posts... better than scented shortbread, I'm sure! And thanks for the reminder about taking joy in the everyday stuff.

My energy level is continuing to increase... but not my sinuses are clogged. I wouldn't have thought that the chemo toxins would poison GERMS, too!
Or that the radiation would keep me healthy. Well, I know about post-stress colds etc... so it's lots of Vernors, tea and OJ.... and naps...

Will get cracking on Christmas cards... must buy envelopes!!
I'll try to get back quicker!

Good Morning all,
 

Oh it is so exciting to see some new faces on the thread. Not that the old ones weren't pretty :nono: :welcome: to you all and I hope you all have an interesting journey with us. Happy2bme has stated in the past about friends for a reason and friends for a season and then there are the forever friends. I'd like to think that we could all become part of the latter group, but things are constantly changing and we understand that some will come and go (and come back again from time to time)

Now is probably a good time to put out a potted history on this thread and the wonderful people on it. I did this once or twice before and since we have a super moderator I guess I can ask the question........ Ruthie (said in a plaintive pretty please tone)
a: could we make this a sticky?
and b: is it worth making a sticky in this thread?

Since we chat a lot, we are forever moving homes (and countries) maybe the sticky would get left behind.

Okay, about the thread. We have this thing about travelling the world. So we start a new Home approximately every 35 or so pages. Some browsers won't load if the thread gets too long. So far it's been me that have chosen our new abode(s) we now have two, a home to live in and a holiday home for those that choose to move to a warmer or cooler climate or to holiday. So far we have 'lived' in castles, world heritage sites, stately homes, over water bungalows and log cabins. Currently we have 'purchased' a village in Santorini in the Greek Islands and we have a Tree House in Okinawa in Japan as our holiday home. Photo's on front page of the thread should you wish to see. Feel free to suggest new homes or start a new thread when the time is right.

This thread has been going for a number of years. The players have changed from time to time, but Teel, Happy, and Shad (that's me) have been around since probably before time begun. We were joined by Melody525, Linus and Hollyhock and then Meadow and Roseblush. Tig probably came in around the same time. Later we picked up Ceejay and Painterwoman and dragged them along for the ride. Geez I hope I haven't forgotten anyone there. Now we have Ruthxxx who drops in from time to time. Raventoy who has been in the journals and on the threads before, Madcat who comes to see us when and where her schedule allows, and now Morrili who I look forward to getting to know.

OKAY who have I forgotten?????? Speak up :dizzy:

There are no rules as such on this thread, however I will remind us all at this point that talking religion or politics is likely to create some very 'lively' discussion so be prepared to have to explain your cause if you wish to take this route.
Also, if you make comment about DH, DB, DS, DD, DF, DMIL, DS, DN, or any other of the nearest or dearests I have failed to mention, then be prepared for advice, censure, help, support, or comment from any of the above mentioned characters.
As we all live in widely differing communities and countries then there is often confusion about language and humour (yes spelt with a U) so think before you get up someones nose with a comment or retort. Ye gods and to think we actually all speak English of one form or another.

Right lets get on with the Characters of this thread. No malice is intended here, the puns are probably going to be truly awful but here goes - in no particular order:

Happy2bme - usually known as Happy, works with computers and SAP which makes her a little unbalanced. SAP has this effect on most people who work closely with the program. Happy has recently re-located to Tennessee from Illinois and lives in a nice house with her lovely DH and assorted wild and stray animals. Happy, her DH and I have actually met up (2 years ago) and had a wonderful time together. Currently Happy is having a few health problems - we are hoping for some good news to come her way shortly.

Hollyhock - known as Holly - lives in deepest darkest Ontario, Canada with (by his photos anyway) a good looking DH and their son, daughter, a couple of cats, an old house painted in fruit salad colours (again with a U) and a big block, a breaking down van and she sells Avon, takes in children by the bucketload and generally wears herself out with goodworks and dirty nappies.

Tig - lives in Florida and runs - we are not sure whether that is to get out of Florida or not, but from the mileage she has done, she should now be halfway to Brisbane for the fun run next August. She has DH (known as Slim) a dog or 2 or is it 3, works as a project manager, and DH has a HARLEY on which they ride for long periods of time usually for a charity or fungroup I think. Tig has had a few health scares this year as well - so we are sending good vibes for a better new year. Tig has a couple of grandsons called THE THUGS.

Painterwoman - known as Painter - is in Texas. She lives with DH and has children who I believe are widely scattered - one is having a tea party in Boston I think. Painter as the name suggests paints, she also takes a mean photo, knits and gardens. Painter had a brush with breast cancer this year and is now finished with chemo and RT and we also want better things for her this year.

Meadow is in Canada in the wilds of British Columbia. She has a DH, 2 daughters and a love/ hate relationship with the WATP tape, is in love (from afar) with Antonio Banderas and has a great eye for graphic design. Watch this space for more AB wallpaper and pics.

Linus lives in Edinburgh, Scotland with the DH and three sons all I think named Satan (including the DH from time to time). The youngest one is only a couple of months old and those are his pictures on the thread. We all went through this pregnancy with linus. Oh yes, she also has 2 dogs, fish, probably an Mexican Walking fish and numerous other considerations - did the guinea pig get replaced?

Roseblush lives in Idaho in a seemingly beautiful area. She has 2 dogs, Toby and Teeka, turtles (I think) and a back yard with deer, elk and caribou which eat the garden plants. Oh yes and at one stage she had a woodpecker trying to demolish her log cabin. She works in Physiotherapy.

Ceejay - lives in Arkansas and works with water. We get to hear about her job from time to time and cringe every time she talks about shifting the chemical barrels from place to place. Ceejay is doing well with workouts at the moment - thats in between travelling to see family in various States of the USA. Recently she and Painter met up in Dallas. We are not allowed to know what they ate!

Then of course we have our Mel. Mel lives in an apartment block in New Jersey and she runs the Maintenance section from her place!! You ought to hear her yell at them. She also organises craft days for the seniors of the apartment and they have been making Christmas decorations. Mel has a daughter Jen who lives upstairs and a Jen has a bird which commutes between apartments. Mel is disabled and in one of 4 different wheelchairs but you would never know it from the things she gets up to. Mel has had a bad year medically but she is on the mend and we hope for a better new year for her too.

Teel - lives in Suffolk in England. She is not always in good health, but I have to say that her computer has worse health than she does and it is currently in hospital so we are not hearing much from her. She lives in a complex with her dog Holly - not to be confused with Canadian Holly who is not a dog. Teel and I met up about 2 years ago when I was in England.

Madcat has been around the 3FC site longer than me, she lives in Toronto Canada and is a Technical Writing Guru. She works on contract. She has TB (the BOY) now the Fiance and two cats and is being married as she said in May. We are waiting for the pictures of the Fang (ring). I very nearly met up with Madcat 2 years ago, but I wasn't long in Toronto and wasted some time trying to organise a meet with another person who as it turned out didn't really want to meet me and didn't want to tell me. I should have gone and had a drink with the 'cat.

Ruthxxx has the title Super Moderator and Dog Nut under her avatar - actually she could save some space on the server and take out the Moderator and Dog bits and just become the Super Nut. Ruth lives in Ontario Canada with two gorgeous dogs (although one is currently being a brat) - but a long way from Hollyhock and Madcat. She runs the village I think. Ruth is currently suffering from DK (she calls it Damn Knee - I call it Dicky Knee). Ruth pops in from time to time and tries to keep us in order.

Raventoy has been on the threads and journals for quite some time - she lives in Georgia with her children (2) a bunch of horses, a series of dogs, not sure about DBF these days, and runs a business trimming and looking after horses feet. Wonder what she is like with human feet. Mine hurt today.

Honey-dipped has been in the threads over the last couple of weeks. She has actually seen our holiday home in Okinawa Japan (see page 1). We know she is married to a military man, but not much else.

Then there is me. I live in Queensland Australia in the sub-tropics. I have a house in stages of renovation, a neurotic cat, 2 sons (one in Brisbane and one in Adelaide), and I work as a workplace trainer and documentor on computer systems - currently SAP which explains the weird comments from time to time. My current contract comes to an end Friday week and I will be looking for something new. Since I'm in the Southern Hemisphere, it is summer here now and we are in the middle of the wet season. Thunder, heat, humidity, mosquitos and flies are my constant companions. I dabble in gardening, photography, travel and renovations. Such fun.

Linda T - lives in the beautiful City by the Bay in California. She is a model of inspiration having lost over 80 pounds herself. She is willing to share all sorts of advice, reviews and posts recipes for those who need some meal ideas. Linda also occasionally threatens us with the cattle prod for those who don't feel motivated to see the light. Just the idea of her chasing us is hysterical and enough to get us to snap to attention. Linda mostly posts in the journals but occasionally will pay us a welcome visit on the threads.


Gawd this has turned into a novel. You will notice I've said little about Morrili yet. Thats probably because I know little about Morrili. I look forward to getting to know her better.

Oh yes and if there is anyone I have forgotten, then please shout loudly :coach: you know I am getting forgetful and deaf in my old age.

See you.

Great job Shad :bravo:

Lisa --Hello and welcome.

Mel--Don't know how my post ended up in your mail. Strange.

Shad - That was absolutely lovely! Thank you so much for catching me up on everyone! And now I know what's going on with your job, too. I'm still with the one and only DBF, though he's off visiting his Mom for the holidays right now. He'll be back Sunday. He's been amazingly supportive of my decision to leap off into running my own business. I think when I mentioned what the numbers would probably run to once I had established my clientelle the dollar signs flashed in his little eyeballs and everything was just all good. :^:

Happy - Ok chick. You're probably only a few hours from me, I really should bug you about us getting together one of these days if you would be interested.

Painter - So good to see you again, too! Might I suggest goldenseal for boosting the upper respiritory immune system? I know our situations differ greatly, but I've used it to keep seasonal sinus infections at bay for the last 6years or so.

CeeJay - Uhm. What was the name of that place!?! I think it was Harrison. I trained there with Jaime Jackson.

MadCat - Make it May 4th. That's my daughter's birthday. ;) Yes, I quoted you... so many times this year, I've been afraid. And that little reminder of yours helped a lot. That, and my daughter telling me that if I gave up, I'd set a LOUSY example for her and my son and she'd have no reason to strive for HER dreams. Yeah. No pressure there, huh? :p But I couldn't kill her, so I gave up and listened instead. I find your lack of bridal (unbridalled?) enthusiasm quite charming.

Melly Melifilicious Melster - I could just wander around all day making strange sounding names for you. Who knows why. The horses have addled my brain. Or maybe it's age. Or ... :?:

Holly, Morrili, Linus - Hi! :wave:

lol thanks shad that little run down just made me realise again why i like you all so much ,i should have said before but craigs little brush with the law enr=tailed him chucking chewing gum at a girl because she was heading for a slap{craigs words not mine}and he doesnt hit girls {my doing not his } and he has been charged with assault because of it but the lawyer we saw doesnt seem to think itll come to anything
by again im off to bed
kirsty

OKAY who have I forgotten?????? Speak up

We also get occasional visits from the Fabulous Linda T and her roving cattle prod :D

Aaargh - how could I forget the cattle prod - oh and LindaT of course!

Linda T lives in the beautiful City by the Bay in California. She is a model of inspiration having lost over 80 pounds herself. She is willing to share all sorts of advice, reviews and posts recipes for those who need some meal ideas. Linda also occasionally threatens us with the cattle prod for those who don't feel motivated to see the light. Just the idea of her chasing us is hysterical and enough to get us to snap to attention. Linda mostly posts in the journals but occasionally will pay us a welcome visit on the threads.

Well said happy. Have you been learning the writing style?