EWP group?

[IASW Rider]

Hi Linda and Elaine! Hey out there, Angie! Hope that you'll come back and see us soon, Wendy!

I'm so sorry that you're still not feeling well, Linda! This seems to be such a bad year for various viruses, flus, etc. going around. I hope that you are feeling much better soon and will be feeling completely better by the time that your sister comes to visit, and in time for fireworks with your young gentlemen!

Please don't be discouraged about the plateau that you're encountering. Believe me, I can relate - I'm STILL stuck on mine! I've been hanging steady at that 80 pound mark for 9 months!!! I'm sorry - I know that that's probably not very hopeful to you, but I can certainly empathize with your frustration! DON'T GIVE UP - as you said, you haven't GAINED anything, and that's the important thing! The additional losses will come with time - that's what I keep telling myself to keep myself going. It WILL happen! I don't know why these plateaus occur - I'm sure that it's different for everyone, based on their individual metabolisms, etc. - but I keep trying to figure out the right "equation" that will help me get off of mine! Regardless, as I always say, with regard to this topic, "look back, don't look forward" - think about all that you've accomplished, not how far you'd still like to go - thinking about the progress that you've made, the strength that you've shown, and the improvements to your health that you've made will carry you into the next round of progress and losses! That's what I keep telling myself and I keep plugging away! I'm sure that that scale will start moving again, before you know it!

I'm also sad about all of the entertainers who've passed away recently. It seems like we've heard of such a sad event just about every week, for the past few weeks. I was also especially sad about Katharine Hepburn - a great actress and person. Coincidentally, my parents are listening to her autobiography on tape, now (since my mother can't read any more), and recently listened to a book about the making of "The African Queen". So they are really sad about her passing, right now, too. But as my father said, "she herself said, in her book, that she led a full life and accomplished everything that she wanted to do". I guess that one can't ask for more than that. I heard on the news last night that Broadway was dark, last night, in her memory.

On a happier note, thank you and thank you, Elaine, for all of your advice and encouragement about "alternate methods of arranging WDW vacations"! I really appreciate all of your thoughts and suggestions, and cut and pasted them into e-mails so that Frank (who is too lazy to visit the Boards) could read them, too! Believe me, I would have abandoned the travel agent method long ago, if it wasn't for the fact that I really like my travel agent! It's a very small office - just a few people work there - and especially since the industry has been so bad since 9/11, I like to give them any business I can, because they are always so accomodating. Still, of course I know about Dreams Unlimited, and almost feel "unfaithful" giving my travel agency business to anyone but them! Especially since our old pal, WebmasterCathyCandada is a specialist, there! I will definitely have to contact them about future plans. That's so neat that they can make PS's for us, too (although I like making our PS's, myself - talking to those people, down there, a few months before we go makes the upcoming trip seem more "real", for some reason! ) But that's so neat that Dreams Unlimited offers that service! We'll definitely have to think about some new and different travel plans for next year.........I hope that we are able to go back! Our CM friends coincidentally did offer for us to stay with them, the next time we visit, Linda, but we wouldn't want to impose upon them in that way (even though they do have 3 cats.......so it would sort of feel like home! ). Besides, if we're taking a vacation, we need to "spoil" ourselves with the hotel atmosphere and services! We'll figure it out, I'm sure! And Frank's mother has offered her time share to us, too, which we could use in Orlando (amongst other places), so that's an option, too.

That's so nice that your brother is coming in from NJ, Elaine! Have a great time! And don't forget to make plans to visit him and his wife, so that I can come down and meet up with you, some time! Do you happen to have any pictures from your most recent DIS meets to share, by chance? Looking forward to seeing more of your great, descriptive pictorial threads!

We're heading down to South Jersey and Frank's mother's house, tomorrow morning, and will be there till Saturday, so I don't know if I will be able to check in again until the weekend. Until then, have a wonderful 4th of July weekend, Everyone, and enjoy!

Thanks again for everything! Talk to you soon!

 

[IASW Rider]

Hey Everyone!

Just bumping us back up!

How were your 4th of July weekends?

How are you feeling, Linda?

How was your visit with your brother, Elaine?

How are you doing out there, Angie?

All is well, here - not too much to report! We had a nice time at my in-laws', over the 4th of July weekend. Frank's 2 Aunts were up, visiting from Tennessee, and staying with his mother, so we got to spend some time with them, which was nice. We had a BBQ on the 4th and went to watch the local fireworks, too. It was a pleasant weekend.

This week, I'm catching up on all of my doctor's appointments - dentist, eye doctor, etc. (I hate having my eyes checked! But - since I haven't had them checked since 1998, I figured that I should probably do so, before I start school! Also, for the past several days, I've had this weird, involuntary spasm, every few minutes, in one of the tiny muscles above my right eye. It doesn't hurt, but it's really annoying - just a little "flicker", every few minutes. It's driving me insane! My general practitioner told me yesterday that it's perfectly normal, and happens to many people, and that it will go away on its own. Maybe the eye doctor will have some more thoughts to add, because I am going to go crazy if this doesn't go away soon!) And I think that I'm going to see if I can pick up my fall semester books this week, too.

Anyway, hope that all is well with all of you, and hope that you're all having a great week! Talk to you later!

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

I just posted in here the other day. What happened? It was one of my best ones ever also. (grin) I know it were a long one!!


We went to see the fireworks on Friday night and Dalton sat in my lap. He says I have the best lap cause it is fluffy. He wanted to know why we were having fireworks and I told him it was America's birthday. He then wanted to know how old the country was and I told him. He was quiet for a minute and then said "Dang, that is older than dead people"! I roared.

We waited around the house all day Saturday waiting for my sister and her new guy. They never showed up and we finally gave up and I went to sleep. Very early the next morning I was woken up with a phone call announcing that they were a couple of hours away. I rushed to Wal Mart to replenish the food I had prepared for the previous day and they finally showed up. I rather liked the guy and hope they marry soon before he finds out what he has on his hands. Hope he is strong enough, he has already had a hard time with his ex wife. They cannot get married until her bankruptcy goes through. (sigh)

My boys are raking in the ribbons and awards at the fair. Dalton won second place at the tractor pull today. Austin had a second and third place with his hogs and a first place in the tractor driving competition. He is showing his cows tomorrow. My poor sil was overjoyed to have us take Dalton home with us today as the child was having a meltdown. He screamed all the way home and I even had to threaten to swat his bottom , not something I do lightly. He was fine when he woke up and wanted to spend the night. He asked about 50 times and grinned and said that he would ask 200 times until I gave in. He forgot he was dealing with grandma not mom. LOL

Elaine, I know your visit went far better than mine. Any more DIS meets in your future?

Angelina, are your kids getting worried about the end of summer yet?

Have to go back to the fair tomorrow so I need some sleep. BTW, I had a one pound loss last week. Not great but a loss is a loss.

SG/Linda

Hoping this post sticks. LOL

 

[helenabear]

Hi all... checking in quickly. We have been without power for over 2 days now so I have limited time here.

I had a nice weekend with my brother but it rained and rained all weekend so we didn't get to do all we wanted to. Anyway, I am sorry I can't be around but when I get my power back, I will do a better catch up with you all.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Dear Helenabear

I hope that your power comes back soon. Must be really bad as they always take care of the more populated areas first. Had a really bad storm come through here yesterday. Hit Columbus the worst. I was so happy that we had brought out tiny terror home with us. He had just won second place in the pedal tractor contest and was wigging out so his dad threw him over his shoulder and forced him into our car for us to take home. Messed up my plans as I was not able to do any shopping as I am sure people would have thought we were beating him from the way he was carrying on. He does this when he gets tired. Sil and oldest grandson were still at the fair. The reports say that while there was some property damage no one was hurt so I am grateful. BTW, when my mini monster woke up he wanted to cuddle and begged to spend the night. LOL

Have fun going around fixing all those blinking lights when the power comes back on. (smile)

SG/Linda

 

[IASW Rider]

Hi Linda!

Wow - it sounds like you've been having an eventful few days! That's so neat that Dalton and Austin have been winning so many ribbons at the fair! Did Dalton actually pull a full sized tractor?? And did Austin actually drive one?? Wow!! And do the hogs belong to the boys, or are they from a farm where they take care of them? The fair sounds like a lot of fun!

And it's great that your sister and her gentleman friend wound up coming to visit after all (though I'm sure that it was frustrating waiting for them and possibly worrying about their whereabouts, as well)! I hope that everything works out for them and that they continue to be happy!

Congratulations on your pound loss! That's great! As they always say, "you have to start somewhere"........! I also lost a pound, but I am not as hopeful, as it's one of the same old 2 pounds that I keep gaining and losing. I promised myself that I would be "more aggressive" about getting rid of these remaining few, now, so we'll see if this is the beginning of a successful trend! Hopefully it will be for both of us! What is it about hitting the 80 pound loss mark that slows us down?? Is there something about the number "80" that we're not aware of? Is there some secret to additional losses that we have to "unlock" in order to go further?? (Well, you've actually already unlocked it, since you've lost more than 80 pounds!) Hopefully, we'll get the "formula" right!

I'm sorry to hear about your power outage, Elaine! That must be so frustrating! Do they have any idea when you might have your full power back? I hope that it is soon! Have the outages affected your office, at all?

Hey out there, Angie!

Well, ladies, it's now "T-minus 6 days" until our 2 year anniversary, here in the Suite!!!!! How shall we celebrate? Moonlight cruise on the Seven Seas Lagoon? Banquet in the Suite (catered by all of our favorite WDW restaurants, of course!)? Private viewing of the EWP from our own private beach, with tropical themed drinks and snacks? I can't believe that it's been almost 2 years! (Actually longer, since the original thread - which I can no longer access via its link - began in May, 2001!)

All is well, here. I still have my weird "flickery-eye-spasm-thing", but I'm trying not to think about it and hoping that it goes away by itself. None of my doctors seem too concerned about it, and they all say that they doubt that it's related to my eye injury of last year. I just hope that it goes away soon and doesn't get worse!

In the mean time, I know that I am a "real Rutgers student" again, now, because I got my first New Brunswick (the city where Rutgers is located) parking ticket in over 15 years, when I went to buy my fall semester books! Getting New Brunswick parking tickets is a "rite of passage" that all R.U. students are unfortunately all too familiar with, since the parking and meter attendants seem to materialize out of nowhere, even if you leave your car for 2 seconds! I certainly racked up my share, years ago, thinking that I could park on the city streets for a few minutes, while running to do quick errands. I was in the bookstore for maybe 10 minutes........and literally laughed when I came out to find that familiar looking ticket on my windshield! Fortunately, it wasn't an expensive one........! Anyway, I feel very "official", now (even though the college kids working in the bookstore looked at me all weird when I was giving them my course numbers and asking if they had those books in stock.......they probably thought that I was the MOTHER of an incoming student, instead of the student, herself! )!

Hope that all is well with all of you and hope that you're having a nice week!

P.S. - For some reason, the Boards wouldn't let me send this message until I deleted all of my smileys! This is the second time that that has happened to me, recently. Very strange..........

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Dear Lisa

Congratulations on being a school girl again. People believing that you are a mother instead of a student? Nah!! You are one of those people who will never age, mature - yes, but not age. I have found that smiles make everyone look more youthful and inviting and you have a wonderful one. Am wondering if the stress and nervousness might not be causing the eye tick though. Just a thought. Guess the ticket made you an 'official' student. LOL

Yes, Austin can drive a full sized tractor and has for several years. He drives cars, trucks and all kinds of other vehicles as well. Not sure that I like the idea of him driving the cars and trucks on the road but it is only about a third of a mile from one house to the other on a county road. Even if it were not his fault I am sure that the insurance company would not pay for anything but 'luckily' he and his family have nothing for anyone to get. (sigh) Dalton pedaled a child size pedal tractor pulling a heavy weight behind. My grandsons live on a working farm. Jackie works so they can afford to farm. It is a family friendly environment to raise kids in though.

Dalton is asleep on my couch right now. I have an old velvet covered couch in our bedroom that the kids sleep on when they are here. They say it is like sleeping on a giant marshmallow or on grandma. LOL They do not like being in a different room for me when they sleep or anything. They lay up in bed with me until they fall asleep and then I transfer them to the couch otherwise I would get no sleep. Austin is too old to be sleeping with his old granny anyway. I do not find the fair any fun at all. I am terrified to animals and being so close to it all and the heat is more than I can bear at times but I do it because the boys want me there. I was so proud of Austin as he has come such a long way from last year when he was almost trampled by a 1,000 cow in front of me. I almost jumped the fence to get him but my dd held me back. I was appalled and terrified and so was he. He had much smaller and better behaved animals this year. Dalton is fearless and if his pig had acted up I would have feared for him. Dalton named him Porkchop, nuff said.

Dealing with my family has gotten easier through the years as I expect less and less. I am the only family member that is in touch with everyone. The older group gets together sometimes but we do not tell the younger bunch so we can enjoy ourselves. I call, write and sometimes visit the younger ones. Some are discouraged from visiting me as some of their kids are the kind to take souveniers home with them (televisions, vcr's, cash). Our parents did not raise them that way.


I have changed my diet somewhat. Several friends are doing the South Beach diet which is a form of low carb diet. I tried it but it was not one that I could follow for any length of time. I have cut out all bread, pasta, rice and white potatoes though and am eating more meat. Have seen a good change in my digestion. Having lost such an enourmous amount of weight don't you think our bodies are just adjusting. You are so close to goal that it would be naturally a lot harder for you to erase those last few pounds. The South Beach diet promises to erase the weight around the waist more than other diets. I have friends who swear to it. Not enough variety for me to be able to handle it though. I ate a double cheeseburger at McD's almost every day this week and have actually lost a tiny bit. I take the top bun off. Would take the lower one off also but it is far too messy. Seems to satisfy me more and keep me from being hungry as soon. I say that as long as we are not gaining any of those 'lost' pounds back we are successes.

Being a sort of all type person I vote for each and every suggestion you made as to our anniversary. Maybe an ICQ chat would be in order? That is if I remember how to do it. LOL

Helenabear, is the power back up in your area? Our Columbus was hit pretty badly also and power is still off in many places. I was astonished by the downed trees and debris I saw yesterday. Has been a far too interesting spring and early summer for the whole country.

Angelina, any more catering jobs coming up? I would love to hear your menus. I watch the Food Network show about eating on $40 a day. Guess I am a glutton for punishment but believe it or not - I watch late at night and it has never made me get up and get a snack. Wonders will never cease. Only ate a few bites of funnel cake at the fair and turned the rest over to my dh. Am finding myself at buffet restaurants and I will walk around the dessert bar but do not usually find anything worth breaking my diet for. I used to eat a couple just to get my money's worth. Just a shame I learned all this so late in life.

SG/Linda

 

[IASW Rider]

Hey Everyone!

How were your weekends?

Hi Linda! How are you doing? I hope that you are feeling all better, by now! I think it's so neat that your grandsons can actually drive / pedal those vehicles! I remember your saying that they live on a working farm - that must be such a great experience and environment for them! They've probably learned to do all sorts of things that they never would have, otherwise, and probably learned a lot about responsibility and respect for the land, and other living creatures, as well. They also probably get to learn a lot of things that other people are not exposed to, too. Is your fair still going on? Did you attend any more of its events, over the weekend?

That's nice that you stay in touch with everyone in your family, on a regular basis, and sort of hold everyone together! I certainly understand what you mean about learning to expect less and less of certain relatives as time goes by. In a way that's good, though - being realistic about them and what one can expect from them might help to maintain your relationships and help you to feel comfortable with the relatives in question. It also sort of protects you from being hurt and then thinking afterwards "I should have known better". I know that that's definitely the case in my family!

You are very brave to give up bread, pasta, potatoes, and all the other white flour / grain stuff all together! I try to watch how much of those things I have, but have not sworn off them entirely. I try to stick to wheat bread, when I have bread, though, and I only let myself have pasta around once a month, if at all. If low carb is working for you, that is great! And if you say that you've been feeling better and digesting better, that's even better! I don't know what I'm doing, but I think that my sheer force of determination (and frustration!) is making the scale start moving, again. I "broke through" and managed to get below that 80 pound mark, today. Hopefully this is a sign of continued good things to come! I agree with you, about the desserts - I never really see anything so tempting that I would actually want it. We had dinner with some friends on Saturday night, and Frank shared this beautiful looking chocolate fudgy dessert with them. They kept saying to me "come on, take one bite, it won't kill you.....", etc. But nice as it looked, I just didn't WANT it badly enough to even have that one bite, so I didn't (I hate when people do that "take one bite, it won't kill you" thing, anyway!). And I know what you mean about avoiding late night temptation (and what an accomplishment that is!), too - although I don't watch food related shows late at night, I definitely read cookbooks and magazines about food, and cook in the middle of the night, on occasion, too! And somehow I manage not to nibble, either! I think that we're really going to get there, this time, with our renewed senses of purpose.........or something like that!

How are you doing, out there, Elaine and Angie? Hope that all is well with you both!

Would definitely be up for a live chat on Wednesday.........if someone will teach me how to use ICQ - I've never used it before - just AOL Instant Messenger! 2 days until our 2 year anniversary!

Have a great day, Everyone!

 

[IASW Rider]

HAPPY 2 YEAR ANNIVERSARY TO THE EWP SUITE AND THE EWP GROUPIES!!!!!

Looking forward to many more years of friendship and fun in our very special place, here on the DIS Boards!

Love,
Lisa

 

[angelina]

Just wanted to pop in and wish everyone a happy 2nd anniversary! Wow! It's hard to believe that it's been that long, but I've enjoyed getting to know everyone, and still hope that one day we can all meet up at WDW!

Lisa, are you excited about going back to school? When do you begin classes? I looked into going back, but the timing just isn't right. In a few years, when the little one is older, I'll check again. Actually, I would like to a college over the bay to complete a cullinary arts degree, but classes are in Gulf Shores, which is about an hour away.

No, Linda, no more jobs lined up at this time. I did my last party on the 5th. I made gallons of gumbo for it, and other "party" food, but it was the easiest one I'd done so far. I would much prefer to have a partner, though. I always worry about having enough, and it would be nice to have someone else involved for a second opinion.

Elaine, was your power out because of the weather? Two days is too long, especially in the summer, isn't it? I hope everything is o.k. now.

I hope you all have a great day.

Angelina

 

[helenabear]

Hi all... I meant to get into the suite last night but we lost power again And yes 2 days w/o power is a LONG time... unfortunately we had it for three full days So we have power (it came on with in an hour or so) but we are not happy with the power company and haven't been for a while.

I really don't have much time to be in here today but I wanted to wish you all a Happy Anniversary Enjoy the day!

 

[IASW Rider]

Hey Everyone!

Great to see you, Angie! How are you doing? How is your family? Wow - I'm getting hungry thinking about your gumbo! I know what you mean about the timing for going back to school - you want to be sure that it's the right time and fits in with everything else going on in your family and in your life before you make that kind of commitment. But I'm sure that you will find a time that's right, if it's something that you want to do - I think that you would do wonderfully in a Culinary Arts program! It's obviously something that you're already great at doing and something that you enjoy! I think that Linda is right - you need to open your own catering business or restaurant!

Believe it or not, now Frank is going back to school, too! I guess that my academic aspirations somehow rubbed off and inspired him, as well! Frank is going to be completing his Bachelor's degree (which he started but never finished, back in the early 80's) on line, through the University of Phoenix. I've often seen their ads pop up, when I've been on line, but never knew much about their programs. Apparently, it is a school geared towards working professionals and classes are offered on a very flexible basis. Many of the people whom Frank works with at ML are taking classes through that school, and one is even getting her MBA through it. Best of all, it's one of the institutions which has been approved for ML's tuition reimbursement program, so as long as Frank does well (which he will!) we will be reimbursed for 100% of the cost of his classes. He'll only be taking one class at a time and continue working full time. Fall will be interesting and different, around here, with both of us doing homework!

I am excited about starting classes (which will be on September 2, I believe), but I am nervous, too. I've been working on shaking my apprehension about having committed to going back full time, when we have no idea how our finances will work out when I have no income. I'm trying to concentrate on the positive stuff and remember why I enrolled to start with, and really believe that we'll make it work out, somehow. Every time I've begun to think about school, recently, I've gotten that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach like "am I totally making a mistake by doing this?" "am I wasting time and money and putting us into debt, unnecessarily?" So I'm working on ways (inside my head!) to turn that around and concentrate on the "good stuff" - I've wasted too much time worrying, already! I figure that even if I go full time, this first year, I can always switch to part time, next year, and hopefully find a job related to the field, in the interim. I'm having lunch with an old friend of mine from college, who happens to work at Rutgers and go to graduate school there, part time, as well. I'm hoping that he might be able to give me some ideas about part time jobs on campus, how he manages financially, etc. Plus, he works for the Chemistry Department, which is somewhat related to my field, so maybe he might have some leads on "scientifically oriented" jobs on campus. Anyway, all this to say, I'm slowly getting myself psyched for this new endeavor!

Hi Elaine! I'm so sorry to hear that you are still having problems with your power! It must be awful to have had to go without air conditioning or to be able to use your lights or appliances......or your computer! And it must be so frustrating to have it go off, intermittantly, like that. I hope that it will stay on and be more consistent, now! By the way, I'm in the process of researching several WDW vacation options (different resorts, different lengths of stay, different times of the year, etc.) with a Dreams Unlimited Agent, just for the heck of it. Thanks for your advice - they are so efficient and so quick to provide information! Not that I am surprised - it IS, after all, Dreams Unlimited! But I am really impressed with their service and how quickly they respond to e-mails and quote requests! Who knows - by some miracle, maybe we WILL be able to go back to WDW - even for a few days - next year! How are you and Luis doing, in general? How has the summer been going (notwithstanding your crazy power outages)?

Hey out there, Linda! Hope that our Founder (that's YOU!) stops by to join our Anniversary gathering, soon!

Have a great EWP Suite Kinda Day, Everyone!

 

[IASW Rider]

Hi!

Just wanted to wish you all a great weekend!

Does anyone have any interesting plans to report?

My Aunt is coming down from Connecticut, tomorrow, and she, Frank, and I are taking my Uncle out for his (77th!) birthday, which should be nice! Then we're just spending Sunday with my best friend from high school and her family, at their swim club!

Frank and I saw the "Pirates of the Caribbean" film, today, and we thought that it was just great! It was much "lighter" and humorous than I thought it would be - lots of action and a defined storyline, but lots of cute moments, as well! And a few creative "nods" to the attraction which inspired it, too! We really enjoyed seeing it (and it made me even more "homesick" for WDW - I wanted to ride PoC as soon as the movie was over! Then again........I ALWAYS want to ride PoC, so that's nothing new! )

Hope that all is well with all of you! Have a great weekend and hope to "see" you all, in the Suite, some time soon!

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

OK, that is the last time that I use Teflon paper to post in here. I was in here, albeit briefly, to wish you all a Happy Anniversary the other day and it seems to have disappeared. It happened another time not too long ago. Maybe I had better make sure it is posted before I depart?

Helenabear, without power? I would think that a city the size of Columbus would be much better at that sort of thing. Our Columbus is much smaller and had a horrible storm hit and everyone was back on line within a day. My grands were at the fair when it hit. Thankfully everyone was alright but many trees were uprooted and destroyed.

Angelina, is a more laid back relaxed type person and I think that she would be great at theme parties or something where she could arrange here schedule around her family life and use her many talents to the fullest. Right now I believe she is getting ready to leave on Wednesday for her children's first plane trip.

Rider, listen to an older and somewhat wiser(practice makes perfect?) woman.. You are NOT wasting money or time. Education is a valuable resource and there are many rewards ahead of you. As enthused as you are you cannot do anything but succeed and what a saviour you will be to all those you will work with in the future. Money is a replenishable resource and time is not and none of us can afford to waste that. Go forward and enjoy this time. For every minor problem you will suffer to get to where you want to go you will be rewarded by the experience. You and Frank can do your homework together. My daughter took classes that were paid for my her company and that is a wonderful thing. It also shows your employer that you are willing to go the extra mile to be more valuable employee and I would be that they would be far more loathe to lay off such an employee and would want to get every benefit and promote them to a position where they could use those talents.

I would love to go see Pirates and will when I get time. As for my weekend plans - I had a tag sale this weekend and did pretty well and got rid of a lot of 'stuff'. I am having company tomorrow as I am showing The Villages tape to a couple of couples and will also have Dalton overnight and all day Monday for Granny School. Not much time left before regular school begins. He picked out some Avon bottles he wanted. They were of Ben Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, the Capitol Building and the Liberty Bell. I was tickled cause he was looking for the crack. I t hink we have a budding politician here but am hoping to steer him in a more moral and productive direction. (grin)

Have been up since 4:30 this morning and am very tired so I will leave you all.

Happy Anniversary to you all, you beautiful people!!!

SG/Linda

 

[IASW Rider]

Hi Linda!

Great to "see you", here in the Suite! How was your weekend?

I'd forgotten to mention to you that I recently found out that the in-laws of a friend of mine are moving to the Villages! It was such a coincidence that you had told all of us about the development just before she happened to mention this to me! It seems to be quite a popular property, now! It would be so great to live so close to WDW...........!

Thanks so much for your great and wise words, as always! I like that theory - that money is something that can be replenished, but time is not, as that's something that one can never "get back"! I'll have to save your post elsewhere, so that I can refer back to it easily, during my ambivalent / terrified moments! And thank you for your encouraging words for Frank, too!

We had a nice weekend. It was nice celebrating my Uncle's and Aunt's birthdays with them on Saturday, when my Aunt came down from Connecticut - they said that they had a really nice time when we took them out, so we're glad. And we had fun with my friend Lisa and her family at their swim club, yesterday. Her one year old son is adorable, and it was fun watching him splash around in the baby pool! And it was a relaxing afternoon.

Now, I'm off to "hit the books", as I've promised myself that I will study a little algebra every day until school starts, so that I will feel more prepared, then. Time to "dust off" my "rusty" memories of it, from high school!

Hope that all is well with all of you and hope that you're having a nice day!

 

[IASW Rider]

YOU ARE CORDIALLY INVITED TO A GALA BIRTHDAY SOIREE, IN HONOR OF OUR FOUNDER, LINDA, A.K.A "SLIGHTLY GOOFY"

Friday, July 25 2003

in the EWP Suite,
Somewhere on Seven Seas Drive

Cocktail Hour will commence at 6:00 in the evening, to be immediately followed by a Seven Course Dinner

Moonlight Fireworks Cruise and Private Showing of the Electrical Water Pageant to follow, beginning at 8:30 PM

Dancing and Refreshments on the Beach, thereafter...........

Hope to see you all there!

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

WOW!!!!! I am so honored and be delighted to spend the evening with my EWP buddies. Rider, you have just described my favorite thing to do on my birthday. I am about double the age of the rest of you youngsters and you are all so nice to put up with my 'mothering' ways. LOL

Rider, you are so smart to start on your studying now. I always read ahead in my books as it gave me a leg up on the classes and if I ran into trouble I had some wiggle room. Was so lucky that some subjects came as second nature so I could spend double the time studying the rough ones. Not sure I could ever do Algebra again though. That is the one subject that is keeping my dd from completing her degree. She has an "A" average and I believe that she is not willing to settle for less in this course and think she is wrong but then what do I know? LOL Are you good at learning from books? If not, why not get a computer program that would walk you through step by step and you might even get to play a game while doing so. Would work for me. (smile)

The Villages is quite a growing thing. Only about 30,000 pop now but growing to 100,000 in the next 20 years. Only real problem I see is the water problem but figure that is a problem all over Florida. We are going to spend a week down there before we go to DW this November. If we like it we are going to rent a place for a month next spring.

I love hearing about your family get togethers. Is the only thing I ever envy anybody for. I took Austin shopping for his birthday presents today. He picked out some farm toys for his collection and fell in love with one more expensive toy that I bought to put away for his Christmas present. If we are to be gone almost all of November I have to get a head start on the season.

Is easy to encourage you and Frank as well as Helenabear and Angelina as I am in awe of how mature and responsible you all are. Sort of think of you all as my other kids. Hope you don't mind.

Slightly Goofy/Linda

 

[IASW Rider]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LINDA!!!!

Hope that you have a wonderful day, and we'll see you this evening for your gala celebration!

Hope that Austin has a very happy birthday, as well! When is the actual date? Will you be celebrating your birthdays together, this weekend?

I haven't bought my school supplies, yet - I'm keeping my eyes open for those "back to school sales", before I buy my notebooks and highlighters and stuff! Am trudging through the algebra - basically trying to re-familiarize myself with the basic concepts of elementary algebra, first (integers, prime numbers, real numbers, whole numbers.........I haven't heard those terms in years!), before I move on to the "real stuff". I have to pick up the pace, though - I want to make some serious headway before September! Was just about to start looking into part time jobs (not sure where I would be able to fit the hours in, with the way that my schedule turned out, this semester), but then I just found out that my unemployment was extended for another 3 months - yea!!! Now I won't have to get a job till next semester, and can plan my classes in such a way that I have enough blocks of free time to be able to work during the week, too.

We have to start socking some money away for our "alleged" trip to WDW, next year! We are "this close" to booking......believe it or not.......a DCL for next May! Frank had wanted to go to the Bahamas next year, anyway, so this might be the way to satisfy both of our vacation wishes! And believe it or not, the quote that DU has given us turns out to be less expensive than our traditional land-only Poly trips! So we'll see......we also have some quotes from DU for the value resorts, as well.

Anyway, time to get ready to head back down to my in-laws' for the weekend.

Have a great birthday, Linda!

Hope that all is well with you both, Elaine and Angie!

Have a great weekend, Everyone!

(Hey - the Boards made me take most of my smileys out of this message, before it let me post it! What's going on?? ("sad face" would be here if I was able to post it!)

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Dear Rider

How wonderful that you will have three less months to worry about. I am so glad. Might you not be able to get a job on campus. Seems it is easier to schedule that way and even if it is a bit less money you will make it up in less travel time and less stress. Would be great if you could work in the area of your future expertise to see if you enjoy it or not and/or what areas you are most interested in.

If we go to DW as planned this November we will be back again in May. Dare we hope to dream? OK, Angelina and Helenabear get to planning!!! Has Frank been to the Bahamas before? I have been a few times. My sister who goes often (Paradise Island) has a tip. She has made friends with a local cab driver and she and her friends hire him for the day and get the best tour ever and since he eats with them they get to learn about everything in more detail. Much cheaper than the land packages that the ships offer. I will be interested in hearing how your DCL thing goes. Is something I have often thought of and might be a great idea for one of our 2004 trips.

Austin's birthday is the 13th. He was at church camp last week so I took him shopping yesterday for his birthday presents. He collects farm toys and it is best that he pick out what he wants as I am a city girl. LOL He and his family are very busy so I doubt that I will hear from them today. Jackie came by yesterday to pick Austin up and mentioned the loose wallpaper. I had asked her to help me fix it for my Christmas present year before last. If I had lazy bums for children I would not have these problems. LOL

Next week is Bible School so I will have everyone for dinner before they head over and will keep Dalton all week to make sure he gets a nap. The daycare lady told him yesterday that they were going swimming and he looked at her and asked "When are we going to have naptime again"? He was sound asleep when Jackie brought him here to pick up his brother. It was only 5:30 pm.

I am down almost 3 pounds since Tuesday. The South Beach Diet seems to be a miracle. Am scared of what happens when I start adding carbs again though.

See you all later for the parade. I might come formal (that is with shoes on ). LOL

SG/Linda

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Here I sit on the beach at the Poly with my feet up and a cold drink in my hand. The fellers went all out and dressed down for the occasion so I am sitting here looking at the scenery. You know I mean the palm trees. (grin)

The only thing that makes a birthday even better is sharing it with those you love and I am one happy lady.

Let's chat awhile until the parade starts.

SG/Linda