Calling All 8/19/06 Special Western Cruisers! AKA "The Cruisin' Castaways"

[Mjasp]

Bev...Good Luck at school. I've always wanted to be a TA also. I really am a TA to all the people I work with, but I don't get paid for it. I work with an oriental woman who speaks english but with a very heavy accent. Her DD goes to college in Indianapolis and she was here for the holidays and wanted to stay longer and she said Delta told her she couldn't change her flight at all, so a co worker told her, give it to Joanna and she will get it changed for you. So $50 later the woman was crying with joy as her DD was going to be spending New Years with her also.

Cindy...If you read this, we are going to try for Jane's on February 5th. Tonight was cancelled.

They keep changing the forecast here also, not for the better either. Now we are up to 18-24 inches wahhhhhhhhhhhh

Keep Warm all

Joanna

 

[SeaSpray]

Good morning everyone

Bev: We took Robby over to take the SATs, too. Fortunately the snow isn't supposed to start here until later this afternoon. It was below zero when we left this morning, and that's NOT factoring in a windchill! Brrrr!!! Congrats on pursuing your dream of becoming a Travel Agent! Let us know how it goes, along the way

I just got one of those Emergency Emails and now we're up to a forecast of 20-30". Good grief. LOL I have to say though, we've gotten that amount all at once before, and not too much slows down life up here in New England. They're pretty good at snow removal; they've had plenty of experience. LOL We have a 4 wheel drive, so we're able to get out in an emergency, but we plan on hunkering down and enjoying the fact that it's the weekend and don't really *have* to be anyplace. We have plenty of food, DVDs, etc. I hope everyone stays safe through this storm!!

Lyn: I'm sorry to hear about Matt's accident. From what I heard, there were so many car accidents that day I'm glad Matt is OK.

Andy: I'm glad Hazel is ok, too. I'm sure it must've shaken her up a bit to spin out like that. It's not a good feeling to lose control of your car.

Joanna: Good for Samantha participating in the fund raising. It's amazing to see so many kids come forward to help raise money for the tsunami victims. Ever since it happened Robby's been asking for lunch money every day. Usually I make him a lunch sometimes and other times give him lunch money. I just found out that they've been taking up a collection at his school during lunchtime, and a lot of the kids, including Robby, have been turning in their lunch money, rather than buying lunch. I wish Robby would've just told me this, I would've given him money to donate AND a lunch. But when I asked him about it, he said it feels more like *HE* is giving the money when he gives up a lunch to donate the money. That makes sense, and I was proud to hear him say that. He's a member of the National Junior Honor Society and the high school band, and he's been participating in fund raisers with those groups as well. Craig belongs to the BPA (Business Professionals of America) at his school and they've been having fund raisers too.

Everyone: I know many of us have said how our kids are raising money for the tsunami victims...Dori's son, Darlene's daughter, etc. and I don't want to leave anyone out. I want to say a big "WELL DONE!!" to ALL of our kids who have contributed in some way to the relief efforts

Doreen, how is Karen doing? Did you get my PM?

Well, I'm off now to call Disney World to make the deposit on the Wilderness Lodge for our July anniversay trip!

Have a great weekend, everyone! STAY SAFE AND STAY WARM!! Think warm tropical-cruise-Disney-vacation thoughts!

 

[Verandah Man]

Our mail was delivered a few minutes ago, and with all the snow coming down, it was nice to see the postcard that we sent to Angelina from Castaway Cay arrive in today's mail!!! It took me back to a sunnier and warmer day earlier this month!!!

 

[sandygirl]

BEV - congratulations! Following a dream is always the best way to go! Too funny, I just told my DDIL that I should have been a TA. I love planning. Keep us up on your progress and have FUN!

TERRY - Gotta' love our kids! I am so proud of all of them.
Glad you are prepared for the snowstorm. We will be selling Girl Scout Cookies at Shop-Rite right in the middle of the storm this afternoon. Other than that we have plenty of food and things to do inside.

Right now I must go hurt my DH! He said he was going outside to throw some salt and I hear a SHOVEL...

Darlene

 

[allshookup]

Hi everyone!

Glad to hear Hazel & Matt are not hurt.
Darlene sorry to hear your son is delayed.
Terry can you believe this snow? Up to 30 inches! yuck! My DH...Mike Bob is stuck working till midnight. I hope he makes it home later.

Bev good luck at school! I am finally going for my BS in early childhood ed. as I'm sure everyone knows by now cause I keep whining about the homework.

I have cruise coming up in April on NCL and I can not wait to sit on the beach with a tropical drink in hand under the palm trees & blue skies......

Warm thoughts to everyone!
Diane

 

[Mjasp]

Sandy...How did Stan handle the beaten you gave him LOL Unbelievable, makes you wonder what goes through there head.

Terry...My older DD gets inducted in the National Junior Honor Society next month. She wants to go to Boston in the summer for one of the courses they offer, I'm sure your son received that booklet this week. One week, over $1,500. I don't think so.

Lyn...How does Matt handle the snow? I remember when I first got my license, I didn't do to good in the snow.

By the way, it's snowing out, can you believe it? and also did I mention "I HATE SNOW"

Keep Warm and shovel smartly
Joanna

 

[Mjasp]

Dori...Here is the "LIST" about the fittest states.

America's Fittest and Fattest Cities

How Does Your Hometown Weigh In

Jan. 6, 2005 - Feeling hefty in Houston or svelte in Seattle? You're not alone. A new report shows that Houston once again weighs in as the fattest city in America while Seattle ranks as the fittest.

Men's Fitness magazine ranked the 50 largest U.S. cities based on a variety of factors related to obesity and fitness, such as percentage of obese residents, recreation facilities, sports activities, and number of junk food outlets.

After crunching the numbers, Houston emerged as America's fattest city in 2005. Houston temporarily lost the top spot to Detroit in 2004 but held the dubious honor from 2001 to 2003.

Houston was joined by two other Texas cities in the top 10 fattest cities, Dallas and San Antonio, suggesting that bigger isn't necessarily better for the residents of the Lone Star state. Three other cities, Memphis, New Orleans, and New York, also bulked up and climbed more than 10 spots to make an appearance in the top 10.

On the positive side, the report shows that some cities are slimming down, as Seattle rose from No. 6 on the fittest list to No. 1, followed by Honolulu and Colorado Springs.

Here's how the rest fared:

25 Fattest Cities
Rank City Rank in 2004
1 Houston 2
2 Philadelphia 7
3 Detroit 1
4 Memphis, Tenn. 20
5 Chicago 5
6 Dallas 3
7 New Orleans 22
8 New York 21
9 Las Vegas 16
10 San Antonio 4
11 El Paso, Texas 24
12 Phoenix 18
13 Indianapolis 17
14 Fort Worth, Texas 6
15 Mesa, Ariz. 12
16 Columbus, Ohio 10
17 Wichita, Kan. 16*
18 Kansas City, Mo. 14
19 Miami 15
20 Long Beach, Calif. 23*
21 Oklahoma City 13
22 Tulsa, Okla. 19
23 Atlanta 11
24 Charlotte, N.C. 22*
25 Baltimore 23
* Ranking in the top 25 fittest cities in 2004


25 Fittest Cities
Rank City Rank in 2004
1 Seattle 6
2 Honolulu 1
3 Colorado Springs, Colo. 5
4 San Francisco 2
5 Denver 4
6 Portland, Ore. 8
7 Sacramento, Calif. 10
8 Tucson, Ariz. 9
9 San Diego 14
10 Albuquerque, N.M. 12
11 Boston 7
12 Virginia Beach, Va. 3
13 Minneapolis, Minn. 18
14 Fresno, Calif. 15
15 Milwaukee, Wis. 21
16 Omaha, Neb. 11
17 San Jose, Calif. 20
18 Jacksonville, Fla. 13
19 Austin, Texas 19
20 Oakland, Calif. 17
21 Los Angeles 25
22 Arlington, Texas 8*
23 Washington 25
24 Cleveland 9*
25 Nashville-Davidson, Tenn. 24
* Ranking in the top 25 fattest cities in 2004

How They Did It

It's the sixth annual 50-city report by the magazine. The cities were ranked first to last and assigned numerical grades in 14 equally weighted categories, which are considered indicators, risk factors, or relevant environmental determinants affecting fitness, obesity, and health.

 

[lynr]

Joanna:
Matt learned absolutely nothing from the storm the other day and he couldn't understand why I wouldn't let him drive when the gov. announced a State of Emergency tonight. Never mind that I had to push him up the driveway when he got home from work because he didn't listen to what I said this morning when I told him to take my car because it was going to snow. I guess my first stop after the storm is to get snow tires and rims for his car. The car came with fat tires and rims that basically don't go in the snow.

Bob had to work at his second job today. I held my breath until he finally got home. In good weather it usually takes him 45 mins today it was 2 1/2 hours and he got stuck 3 times on a side street. He was working on my friends car and had to drop it off and they hadn't plowed the street yet. I only saw a plow truck once today on our street.

Did I mention that I HATE SNOW also!!!

Bev: Congrats on going to Travel Agent school that is a dream of mine also but around here they don't make out well financially. I guess I could do it part-time for an internet based company though.

Darlene: I hope you straightened Stan out for going outside in this kind of weather. He should stay inside where is it nice and warm and safe. Anymore word on when you son is coming home?

Terri: What can I say "20-30" inches I would go crazy. Stay inside, watch movies and stay warm.

Diane: I hope your husband makes it home safe and sound. Maybe they will close early because of the storm.

Have anyone heard from Doreen about Karen? I wonder how she made out with her surgery.

Everyone stay inside and stay warm.

Lyn

 

[sandygirl]

Stan survived the beating he got for SHOVELING yesterday. I am such a mean wife! He didn't do anymore. My DS25 hurried up and shoveled out the driveway and all the cars before Stan could get back out there. Sandy cleaned off my car. She was so pleased with herself for being able to help out. I love this age!

We sold 50 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies at Shop-Rite before they closed it down yesterday. Everything in town closed by 6 PM.

My USMC DS is scheduled to get off the bus at Camp Lejueane at 1 o'clock in the morning on 1/30. We will be heading down there either Thurs or Fri. His wife said he should have left Fallujah yesterday. Praise God for His mercy and grace. I am going to test bake the Butterscotch Krimpet Cake today so we know if she wants to make it for his homecoming dinner. Rats! I get all the yucky jobs . LOL I guess I will have to TASTE it, too .

JOANNA - I noticed that Philadelphia is #2 on the fattest list. Must be all those good Tastykakes...and cheesesteaks...and scrapple...
Congratulations to DD on her induction into the Jr Honor Society.

LYN - Matt + + ****, I feel your frustration. Wasn't it easier when they were little? The 1st year my oldest son had his driver's license we had a lot of snow. That wasn't an easy winter for me. But then again, my 1st car was a stick shift Volkswagon Rabbit and I drove that thing all over the place in the snow. I loved it! My mom was a wreck .
Glad Bob made it home safe and sound.

TERRY - How are you faring in the Blizzard?

DOREEN & KAREN - How are patient and nurse? Hope everything is going well with Karen's surgery and recovery. Doreen, you are missing the snow!

DIANE - At least you have the April cruise to look forward to, that's great! I like the way you think...beach, tropical drink, palm trees, blue skies...ahhhh...I can almost feel it.

ANDY - You take care out there tomorrow. I'm sure you have proper equipment for the snow but it must be hard to trudge through all this snow.

BEV, TINA, MARY ROSE, BOBBY & CINDY, DORI and EVERYONE, have a great day!

Darlene

 

[Verandah Man]

ANDY - You take care out there tomorrow. I'm sure you have proper equipment for the snow but it must be hard to trudge through all this snow.

Yea, that's if I even make it to work on Monday??? I still have to get outside and clear out our driveway, and my knees are already aching with the just the thoughts of it!!! I'm ready to put that "FOR SALE" sign and front of our house and start looking for a place in Florida. My mom sent me an e-mail after seeing the photos I sent of our snow, her reply was, "Son, I'm so sorry to tell you that I'm sitting here with my front door open, because it's so warm here." I'm not going to print what my reply was to that!!!

 

[Mjasp]

OK I woke up this morning and the wind was blowing and it was snowing lightly, NOW It is snowing heavily and I am about to lose my mind. We figure approximately 18 inches out there already with another 6-8 to come.

All I keep saying is I should be able to get to work tomorrow, not that I want to go to work, BUT I have to get OUT!!!!!!!!!!

Lyn...Kids, Just live long enough to give him the grief back LOL Glad Bob made it home safely.

Darlene...50 boxes of cookies in such a short time, that is great. We will have our booth sale in April. We don't get our cookies from the initial sale until March.

Terry...Too bad you don't live closer we could have had a smoothie party.

Lyn , I feel the same way as you LOL I HATE SNOW!!!!!!!!!

Keep warm and shovel smartly,
Joanna

 

[castoff]

Hello from the frozen Tundra
My DS had to deliver his papers this morning. He has 46 on his route spread out on the other side of neighborhood. Chuck gets up with him at 4:30 every Sunday. Chuck was trying to keep up on the snow yesterday...........Don't you just love it when your doing your driveway and the snow plow comes by and dumps it right back it in ? I was up this morning wating for there return..........Jonathan comes back after going through 3 foot drifts. That was soooo much fun. Chuck says he would see the snow plow truck and they had a understanding. I said whats that? When I saw him I got out of the way.lol o.k we are in for the day. Watching football !!!

Andy: Your Mom sounds like a hoot ! Be careful tomorrow !!

Terry: I think you got more snow then us for a change !! Sorry about that.

Linda: How are you doing?

Sue: See what your missing?

Doreen: How is karen doing? When are you flying back? Glad you missed this storm.

Darlene: What was Stan thinking? 50 boxes Wow ! How brave to sell while storm coming. Glad you made it home safe and sound.

Dori:Your weather all cleared up?

Enjoy the rest of the weekend ! Hello to Bev, Joanna, Lisa, Lynr, Diane

 

[florida sun]

Hi Guys

Signing in from a very very sunny day, if a little cold here in Wales, it has been raining hard here for about 5 days and last night we did see a few flakes of snow,but I woke up this morning with the sun gleming in through my bedroom window. Now that put me in the mood for a spring clean, so by 11.30am I had picked my mum up and taken her to the local market and then back home, put 2 loads of washing out on line in the garden, and vacumed and dusted all of downstairs.

Then the hard work began, Vicki's drum set had been set up in the back room downstairs as there was not enough room in her bedroom, it was proving to be a bit of a nusience, especally when watching tv, so while she has been out and about most of the weekend with her friends, I decided to do a quick home improvment of my own in the spare bedroom upstairs. First I totally cleaned out all the rubbish, generating 5 huge balck bags full to put out for the rubbish man, then I gave it a very quick coat of paint, put up new curtains, put a spare cd player in there and dismantled her old fuseball table (which was not easy I can asure you)which she has not played on for some months. The really hard part came this afternoon while she was at her grandmothers house - The dismantling of the drum set and putting it all back together again upstairs.

Well I have just finished and it all looks great, and hopefully with her being at the back of the house, I will gain a little bit of piece. I cant wait for her to see it as it is now her own little den where she can take her friends and practice in peace with plenty of room. It is 4pm now and she is due home around 5.30pm

Her and her friends went to a big concert held here in Cardiff yesterday for the Tsunami fund at the millenium stadium with 61,000 other people who arrived in the city from all over the UK. The whole concert raised over a million and a quarter pounds and was headlined by Eric Clapton amongst other big named acts. Seven hours of music in total and most of it I could here from my front door as I only live 5 minuets from the stadium.

Take care in that snow, my goodness if we had that much fall in the UK, the whole country would come to a standstill.

Hope you are all well and will speak to you soon, off to have a cup of well deserved coffee now, hey I might even have lost a few punds with all the lifting and carrying.
Bye for now

Sue

 

[SeaSpray]

Checking in from Boston's south shore!

So far we have just under 3' of snow, and by the time it ends tonight, we'll have over 3'. There are already snow drifts over 6'. The boys have already been outside. They had to shovel a path to the back shed so John could get the snowblower out. Right now John is snowblowing the driveway. (It's a big driveway, we can fit about 12-15 cars in it).

Craig was supposed to work today (he's a cashier at a supermarket), but the store is closed, and they've already closed the schools down for tomorrow. Boston is closed for Monday AND Tuesday already.

We're doing fine though. We have a TON of food in the house, lots of wood for the fireplace, and the electricity is on!


Darlene: I'm glad that Stan felt well enough to do some shoveling, but I'm glad you got him back in the house!!!!! And good for Sandy for helping out too

Joanna: Would've that be fun, to get together in a storm like this and have a big smoothie party?!?!

Andy: How much snow did you guys end up getting? Have you been able to get your car dug out yet??

Sue: I hope Vicki enjoys her drums in their new location, the "music room" sounds wonderful!!!

Tina: Wow, I give your DS and DH a lot of credit for getting up and getting those papers delivered!!!! Enjoy the rest of the day! We'll be watching football too!

Bev: It should be interesting watching these games today, both games are in "snow" weather.

Lyn: I'm glad Bob made it home OK! I heard that the governor of NJ closed the state down as of 8pm last night.

Diane: Where are you cruising to in April? I know what you mean about thinking tropical thoughts!

Everyone: Enjoy the rest of the weekend, and stay SAFE! If you're shoveling, or your DHs will be shoveling, make sure to take it easy! This is prime heartattack weather, especially for us 29+ year olds

 

[Mjasp]

OK We are done snowblowing and shoveling out. After snowblowing, I like to see blacktop.

Terry. OMG 3' of snow already and they closed schools tomorrow, wow unbelievable.

Keep Safe

Joanna

 

[mickeymom923]

Go E-A-G-L-E-S

Well, I had to go out this morning to shovel a little because I have 2 toy poodles who would get lost in the snow. The snow was higher than them. Never found today's newspaper - it must be buried somewhere in the snow. I guess since the snow stopped early today, I don't have an excuse for not going to work tomorrow.

I have to admit that I enjoyed the snow yesterday because my family all stayed in. We watched movies and had fun being together. Normally everyone has their own thing to do and it's rare that we are all home together. But I too, hate the snow.

Wishing everyone stays safe and warm.

 

[allshookup]

Beverly officially got 29" of snow so far and it is still falling. DH did make home safely last night...thanks for thinking of him. He has been out snowblowing all morning. One good thing to come out of this is NO SCHOOL! Yippee!

Terry we will be cruising out of NY to Cape Canaveral, Miami, Nassau & Great Stirrup Cay. Not the most exciting itinerary but warm and that's all I care about. Plus I don't have to fly & that makes me very happy. It is a long time between my April cruise & my August 2006 cruise so I will have to come up with something to do in between that time. Maybe a side trip to DW? I just can't mention anything to MikeBob yet...he needs to get over the shock of making the final payment for our April cruise first.

 

[Verandah Man]

After three hours of hard labor, (no snow blower here) our car and driveway are now clear of the 12" of snow we received from this weekend storm. My knees are killing me, but at least we can get in and out of the driveway. It's now time to HUNKER DOWN and get ready for the EAGLES game!!!

Hazel says hello everyone!!!

 

[sandygirl]

"Darlene...50 boxes of cookies in such a short time, that is great. We will have our booth sale in April. We don't get our cookies from the initial sale until March." JOANNA

"Darlene: What was Stan thinking? 50 boxes Wow ! How brave to sell while storm coming. Glad you made it home safe and sound."

BRAVE nothing! I was more afraid of the Cookie Coordinator than I was of any storm. No lie, she called me twice everyday and e-mailed me 3 times a day this week. Drove me nuts! Nice lady, but totally obsessed by following the "rules" of the cookie sale. And we ended up being the only family who showed up. What we sold were "Troop" boxes, not Sandy's individual allotment to sell.

****I know I am going against the tide here, but, if it is going to be cold, it might as well ***snow***. And I like driving in snow. I'd rather drive in snow than in rain. Having said that, I would much rather be somewhere that snow can't find. Warm, sun, breeze, anything I don't have to put a coat on for!

Darlene

 

[Mjasp]

""BRAVE nothing! I was more afraid of the Cookie Coordinator than I was of any storm. No lie, she called me twice everyday and e-mailed me 3 times a day this week. Drove me nuts! Nice lady, but totally obsessed by following the "rules" of the cookie sale. And we ended up being the only family who showed up. What we sold were "Troop" boxes, not Sandy's individual allotment to sell.

Darlene

ROTFL