[Domina]

lala, whoops, forgot to respond to your Spain story. Yes, I agree. That's so terrible; 182 dead. Senseless tragedy.

[MelissaL]

Hi!

No major plans here for the weekend--DH is heading out on Saturday morning for a "camping trip" with the rugby guys so I'll have a relatively quiet weekend. Boys have bowling on Saturday morning. I'm thinking I need to tackle the little room that I've been ignoring all winter. DS would like to move in there. It's just a matter of getting rid of old toys and odds & ends that I keep hanging onto for unknown reasons.

Domina: I just got a notice that the airfare from here to Tampa is a whole $125! What a great deal--it's usually $228. I'm going to have to seriously look at heading south to visit my girlfriend.

Lala: I've recovered from my trip nicely. Monday was a little rough but once I made it to Tuesday I was fine. I'd definitely like to go overseas again. Next year I think they go to Ireland...hmmm. I hadn't heard about the tragedy in Madrid--I've been out of the loop in terms of news lately.

Susan: If it's any consolation the snow/ice/wind is supposed to get us later tonight. They're saying 1-3" by tomorrow morning and the morning commute is supposed to be tricky. *sigh* I'm so ready for Spring.

Not much else going on here--we had 17 boxes of materials delivered for our big orientation mailing that goes out the 22nd so we'll be busy here next week.

[lalala]

Domina --

My suggestion on flying into South Dakota, is to fly into somewhere else and drive, it'll be cheaper, but that where is a mystery to me. I have no idea where your planning on running/visiting, but the closest big airport is in Sioux City.

I would definitely think road trip from somewhere in MT, Wyoming (also expensive) or IA.

lala

[Domina]

Melissa, sorry to hear your winter continues. I understand holding onto some things; they are tied to memories.

lala, thanks for the tip. That's an idea. We are heading to Deadwood which is near Mount Rushmore. We would fly in to the Rapid City Airport. I need to check how far Sioux Falls is.

[Seasaw]

Not much planned for the weekend except getting my runs in and cleaning up the downstairs bedroom. I store my sewing/craft things in there and it's gotten a bit out of hand. I'll also go through my summer things and decide what to take to Cuba.

We might also do some more work in the downstairs bathroom. I don't know if I mentioned that we've decided to renovate it (the pain of the upstairs bath renovation has obviously faded). DH has taken out the old flooring and needs to have a bit of plumbing work done. We're using the fixtures from the upstairs renovation - the whirlpool tub, vanity and toilet - which have been in storage. This will give us two 4-piece bathrooms - a nice selling feature when the time comes.

lala: Thanks for reminding me about bring snacks aboard the plane. Had forgotten that it's slim pickins on those charter flights.

Melissa: We managed to dodge the bulk of the bad weather. A bit of freezing rain but nothing like they had forecasted. Ireland - now that's somewhere I've always wanted to visit. I have this mental image of lush, rolling green hills and want to know if it's accurate.

Domina: It probably does sound strange to you, but Canadian summers can be hot. They're just not very long.

Yes, that was terrible news about the attacks in Madrid. Still no concrete news as to the culprits, is there? Part of me wants it to be the local Basque (sp?) separatist group. The thought of this being a continuation of bin Laden's antics is too horrible to contemplate.

[lalala]

Hi everyone,

Susan -- nice idea to remodel. I have desires to do the same with our tiny master bath, I'd settle for tile. Good luck on the organizing and straightening.

As for the attacks, I am very saddened that is Al Queda. I can't imagine what other countries will be safe from now on. Having been in London last year during the 1 million person peace marches, Madrid at the beginning of the war with hundreds of Pais flags/non la guerra banners hanging from balconies in all the neighborhoods we visited (swanky or not), this is soo sad. People are killed for what their leaders want, not what the majority of the Britons and Spaniards want. Did I tell you I am so not looking forward to being in London week after next?

Domina -- after looking at the map of S.D. you may just have to fly into Rapid City and bite the costs. The other place that would be marginally cheaper would be Denver and drive. Could be pretty, but then it could be expensive given gas prices. Then again, it would give you a chance to explore that part of the world and get acclimated to the thinner air.

Melissa-- I am hoping that the weather is better today. I am in Philadelphia next week, I hope the weather is nice, but if its not, then I can pack only one wardrobe.

Okay, now I'll tell you all my tale of woe.

The house next to our is a rental. The owners of the rental do little or no work on it and charge alot of money for the privelege of living next to me. Anyways, our dear neighbors of six years just moved into their own house, they tried to buy the house, but the current owners are in some kind of tax bind. Anyhow, they rented it to two sisters, one in her twenties and one older (what that means,who knows). Last night, DP wakes me up at 12:15 to say that the younger is now partying in the basement and moving in. I can start hearing the noises and shouting. I go outside and ask them to stop making noise and tell them that my bedroom is on that side of the house. Well, she and her "homeys -- big baggy shirts/those ugly shorts and bad jewlery are smoking pot and drinking.

Wahhhhh.. I am not the most conservative person in the world, what you do in your own house is your own biz (within the law), but now I am totally freaked out. I will be at home by myself five nights a week from April and as the weather improves the windows will be open and all this cr*p will move from the basement apartment to the yard. We had problems six years ago with five out of college dudes who rented the house for a year and made our lives ****. I am hoping that this will not be the same.

I am trying to contact the owners, they were so not helpful with the last go around. Its going to be a long spring and summer. I want to be able to enjoy my garden and my beautiful house.

So, today I am wolfed down my lunch and breakfast without thinking because I was soo stressed.

Give me strength and any advice.

lala

[MelissaL]

Lala I can totally relate to your tale of woe--my parents had a rental unit next to them which had 3 units in it--anyway, it got to the point that there were all kinds of people in and out, partying in the yard, yelling obscenities, parking in my parents' drive, etc. My mom made numerous calls to the landlord, who lived in a nice quiet neighborhood, and got no response. What she started doing when they were acting up in the evening was call the landlord, wait until they picked up the phone, then hung up and continued doing this. She also would hold the phone out the window so she could hear what was going on next door. She told her unless she did something about the tenants she would continue to call and wake her up like she was being woken up. The tenants moved out. I don't know if that tactic would work but it's definitely worth a shot. The unit ended up burning down and my parents bought the lot--now we have a nice big yard with lots of shrubs, etc.

Lala, I understand your hesitance about being in London with the new developments overseas. I felt that way when I traveled to Chicago the first time after 9/11. Maybe things will quiet down.

Susan/Domina: It seems as if winter is fighting leaving us. Got up this morning to icy roads and snow on the cars; it's snowing again as I type this. The temps are a cool 26; the upside is that it's supposed to get up to 50 on Sunday!

I'm so ready for today to be over. I'm working at WW this evening and we've gotten word that the "trainer" might be attending our meeting. If she does attend it could mean getting weighed at night (horrors!) by her and then she'd observe how the meeting is handled. Oh well, I'm not going to stress out about it.

All in all the week has gone fairly well for the most part. I'm back on a regular schedule and am looking forward to a relatively quiet weekend.

[Domina]

lala, yes this news about Al Qaeda is very disturbing. It makes you not want to leave the country. (Who said we're totally safe here either?)

I think I will have to bite the bullet on the airfare to SD. I just wonder how long I should wait. Sometimes there are fare wars. : )

Your tale of woe is very familiar to me. When we first moved into our home in a nice neighborhood, there was a rental next door full of college kids. It was horrible. They had loud parties, they threw trash in our yard. There were broken beer bottles on the street. Okay, you get the picture. Well, they only stayed one year and then the house was sold. I guess you just have to hope and pray that they move out. If they are truly disturbing the peace, I would call the police.

Don't let it get you stressed out or they win!!

[lalala]

hi all,

beautiful day here today, that is it was. I'm at work now because I forgot when I had to pick up my friends from the airport. Its tomorrow. Anyhow, hope everyone is having a great weekend. I'll update you on lala v. the homeys on Monday....

lala