EWP group?

[IASW Rider]

Hi Everyone!

Great to see you all, and so sorry that I haven't been around in awhile!

Welcome, IamTink!

Hi Becki! Great to hear from you and so glad to hear that all is well with you and your little-one-to-be! Your daughters must be so excited about having a new little sibling! How did your volleyball team do, this season? (I played in high school - I was the JV captain and Varsity Co-Captain, and even went to Olympic Volleyball Camp, one summer! ) And your daughters' softball seasons?

Hi Colleen! How's it going, out there? You know, I really do need to catch up on "Lost"! If Frank's friend doesn't lend us his DVD's of the first season, soon, I will rent them! How are all of the plans for your upcoming fundraising dinner coming along?

Hi Linda! How are you feeling? I'm sorry that you haven't been feeling very well - you "sound" so wonderful, here in the Suite, that it's hard to imagine your not feeling 100%! Thank God that your heart tests came back, all right! Will you have to take additional tests to determine the source of your discomfort, or whether there is an issue with your lungs? If so, I hope that you can get them over with, quickly, so that you can finally put all of this behind you!

In the mean time, so glad to hear that you enjoyed your trip to PA and your reunion with your sisters and your family! It's wonderful that you all had a chance to get together, like that!

How is Dalton feeling, after getting his new braces and fillings? (A rite of passage, for so many of us at that age! ) And is Austin out there, breaking young girls' hearts, now that he is a bachelor, once more?

So sorry to hear about his Youth Minister - that is so sad. But as you said, (if anything can be said), at least he left this world doing something good for others and doing something meaningful and gratifying.

Can't wait to hear about your meeting with Colleen, when you both plan it! I am still determined to get out there to Indiana, so that we can all get together, some time!

We've been fine - very busy trying to catch up with my school work, since I had to miss one each of each of my classes, over the past 2 weeks, because of the Holidays. Also just busy with the Holidays, themselves. They were very nice - went to synagogue with my father (or shall I say, my father came with us to our temple). We have a new Rabbi and a new Cantor, and they did a nice job with the services. The new Rabbi referenced "Harry Potter" and "Star Trek" in her sermons, drawing analogies relevant to the subject matter. Although my father was somewhat "mortified" by this (traditional kinda guy that he is), I actually thought it was good that she did that - to try to draw in the younger congregants and make the theme and subject matter more interesting and relevant to them! Anyway, we spent the Yom Kippur "break fast" with a bunch of my cousins (and my father and uncle), and that was a lot of fun.

Just found out that one of my closest friends has a cancerous cyst on her bladder, last night. UGH. As if I'm not a total "hypochondriac", as it is, constantly worrying about the state of my health and that of everyone around me.........and now I'm even more worried. Very scary. (Although she says that she's not scared - that it's essentially a matter of just removing the cyst, and that's it - no further treatment required, unless they see something unexpected when they're "in there" removing it). UGH UGH UGH.

Anyway........sorry about that............I don't want to end on a depressing note! This weekend, Frank and I are celebrating the 6 year anniversary of our first date - corny people that we are, we celebrate our "dating anniversary", every year! And we're also taking out another one of my closest friends, to celebrate her 40th birthday, her and her husband's 5 year wedding anniversary, and the 25th anniversary of the day that she and I became friends in high school! Never let it be said that A) I don't have a good memory for dates and B) I'm not a sentimental sap!

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

 

[IamTink]

Thank-you for the warm welcome. Can't type much, had carpal tunnel surgery today. Thanks again for the warm welcome.

 

[IASW Rider]

Hope that your hand / arm is feeling better, IamTink! And stop by and visit us, any time - we always love to have new folks join us, here in the Electrical Water Pageant Suite - we've been here, on this thread, for 4 years!

Have a great day, Everyone!

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Poor Tink. I believe, I believe, I believe - you are going to be all well and real soon!!! I will have the fellers find the best therapist available and relaxing on the veranda hot tub should get you back up and typing in no time. Name your poison and I will arrange to have one delivered every hour on the hour to deaden the pain.

Lisa, I am so sorry to hear about your friend. It is always difficult to see those you love in any sort of danger. Most of those things do turn out to be benign and hopefully this one will also. Maybe they can do the easier surgery and keep the trauma down to a minimum. You bounce back better when you are younger. Your holidays always sound so nice. I am grateful that I do not have to be tempted by all those fabulous foods though. Did I tell you that my last meal before the surgery was at a Jewish Deli? Very famous one in this area. It just celebrated 100 years in business. Tom went there was he was a mere boy himself. I had a corned beef on rye and it was over $11 without anything else. It was almost worth it. LOL You big city folks are used to forking over big bucks but us Midwesterners suffer from sticker shock.

Dalton is made of stern stuff and was very proud that he did not cry one bit when he had his many cavities fixed. The brace looks sort of cute. Anything looks good on him though. He is looking forward to his first real report card and is hoping to rake in the big bucks as grandma believes in bribery to get good grades.

Austin managed to ride a 4 wheeler, with no brakes, into a tree and get thrown off and then have the vehicle run over his leg but since he was able to play paintball for a couple of hours afterward he must have suffered from any permanent damage. Wish it had run over his head and knocked some sense into him (or the grownups who allowed him to ride on a brakeless vehicle) He and talked for over 2.5 hours the other night and I had been meaning to tell him how intelligent and thoughtful I thought he was until he told me this story.

I love the old songs and such at church but enjoy the new stuff as well. It is hard on the older folks though as we were raised so differently and change is hard sometimes. I am going to see 'Elvis" at church this week. I am curious as to how they are going to pull this one off in this very conservative town. I love Harry Potter and Star Trek. Many moral lessons to be learned in both.

We are welcoming some hurricane victims into our town. It is an awesome thing to see how everyone pulls together at such a time. The town is aptly named.

My dear friend Dorthea and her husband celebrated their anniversary every single month. Mostly small things but very touching nonetheless. How did you guys celebrate? How wonderful to share it with others. Sentimental, yes, Sap, no!!! You know what they say "You gotta have heart, lots and lots of heart!" Ain't you glad you cannot hear me??

I went back to the Community Center for the first time today. The kids have requested that I come two days a week this time. I am going to take my digital camera and make a bookmark for each one with their picture (I am so bad at remembering faces sometimes) and then they can write each book they read on the back and it might give them incentive to fill it up. Many familiar faces and many new ones. I love how excited they were to see my books.

Colleen and I are having a terrible time finding a common time to get together but it will be done next month sometime. I do not drive much when the snow flies. I will be in her area on Sunday but that is family time and I do not wish to disturb her then.

Wendy, are you all rested up now? How are you all doing? I think of you and yours often and wish for all the best for all of you.

SG/Linda

 

[IamTink]

Hi everyone. I originally came to the Dis from one of many other Disney sites but do not recall which one.

The hand is coming along slowly. Takes all day to read emails & respond. Wish I could say hi to all individually, but not yet up to that. Soon, I'll be up & at 'em again. My usual self.

 

[IASW Rider]

Welcome back, IamTink! And glad to hear that your recovery is coming along well!

Hi Linda!

Hi Colleen!

Hi Everyone!

Just a very quick note to apologize for not being able to check in, lately. I am swamped with work that's still "backlogged" from when I missed classes due to the Holidays, over the past 2 weeks, and I'm WAY behind in my hardest class, the dreaded Biostatistics. On top of that, I have one mid-term scheduled every week during the entire month of November! So I'm afraid that I might not be able to check in again for awhile! But I will be back as soon as I can, to respond to Linda's last great post and anyone else's, who happens to post in the interim!

Hope that all is well with you all! Have a great weekend!

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Rider, you dear sweet person. There is no competition between the time available to a middle aged homemaker from the Midwest and a youngster taking college courses while keeping up with a fantastic family life filled with loads of friends and exciting activities. I will keep the pool skimmed, the bar stocked and the furniture dusted for when you can drop by. Take it easy on yourself, concentrate on what you need to take care of and when things get settled down we will be here awaiting a report. Sending you some magic fairy dust to sprinkle over your test papers to make those A's into A pluses. Nothing but the best for our Lisa.

Tink, hi there. It is so nice of you to come by when you are not feeling your best. Are you feeling any better than before? When you first posted I saw Angelina's name in your header and thought she might have steered you our way. We come and go around here and some times are slower than others but we always return 'home'. Does the dancing banana denote that you are 'usually' bananas? I hope so, being crazy alone is no fun at all. (grin)

Slightly Goofy

 

[IamTink]

I have to say that yesterday, Oct 30th, or two days ago I didn't use any of the Vicodin but I had to three times today, well yesterday, it's just 1:40 AM now. On Oct 31st I got my sutures out & steri-strips on & am awaiting a call from the rehab people to set up rehab 3 times a week for 3 weeks. It does feel great to have the cast off. I am absolutely so scared for when I return to work because I will definitely be doing the exact same repetitive work. Blood Pressures & that bulb is scaring me. The doc told me that I will absolutely have to do them rotating which hand I use each time. I want him to write for an automatic one for me. I don't think he realizes how many people we actuallly see. We (me & two other nurses) do vital signs on 50-70 people every morning between 7:30AM & 9:30 AM. In between we're taking staples out, doing dressing changes, inserting IV's. It's an incredibly busy department. NONE of the other nurses from other areas want to come to our department simply because of how hard it is.

But, I'm awaiting rehab & he will be doing my other hand before I return to work at all. My other hand is worse off than the hand I had done. I had my dominant hand done first hoping that it will rehab faster & I can get the second one done ASAP & rehab and return to work faster.

Thansks for your well wishes. Good luck on the exams.

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Tink, it is good to see that you are able to type a bit more. So, you are a nurse. We surely do need one around here. lol

It would seem that ,working in a hospital, that they would know the dangers of putting you back in such an environment. So many of my friends have had to go on long term disability because of such actions at their jobs. Does not make sense that they would want to lose such good workers too soon. Is there any way you could get transferred?

It sure is a relief to get sutures out. Been there, done that, many times. How long until you get the other hand done? Are you caring for yourself or do you have some help?

My only medical test today is a mammogram. Was bad enough before in that they had to do them in sections but now we also have to lift them up from the floor. Hope they have a hoist. (grin)

We had between 3-400 trick or treaters last night. I had thought we would have less than usual because I had been told that the two churches had their parties Sunday night but one had it last night so it attracts many from all over town. Had a lot of sweet moments. Three teenage girls came by and asked me if I though they were too old. I smiled and told them that I did so until I was 17 or so and as long as they were having fun it was alright with me. One said that teenagers needed 'love' too so I went out on the porch to hug her and then had to give the same to the other two girls, at their request. Several of my 'kids' came by with their kids. Always a special moment. One of them gave me a hug, he is 6'6 now and remembers me threatening to sit on him and make him a mere spot on my couch. LOL (for some reason I cannot get the smilies to work) The chocolate chip cookies were a hit with the grownups and I only ran out of candy in the last few minutes.

Scariest thing I saw was a person in a form fitting red sequined dress, built like a Barbie doll. When I went to give them their treat their voice alerted me to the fact that this was NOT a girl. I think he was enjoying it a bit more than is safe in such a small town. I never looked that good in my entire life. I was a bit jealous. grin

I have to get ready for the day. Furnace still not fixed. Hearing aid broke and that is going to be big bucks too. Guess where all that money I did not spend on our planned DW trip is going? Would have rather been at DW. Next year!!!

SG/Linda

 

[Janet2k]

I thought I would stop by to say, "Hello!" I hope everyone is doing well.

Janet

(PS I don't know when I'll pop back in again since the Resorts Board is where I hang out, but please feel free to PM me if you need anything.)

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Yes, Janet, we do want and need something - your smiling face around here more often. Since you are usually in DW or DL we will forgive you for not dropping by more often though. LOL

I tried to post earlier but it got lost. For some reason I cannot put in any smilies either. I will work on that, when I get time.

Too busy around here. I had dinner with a dear friend tonight. I have not seen her in about two years. She has a terminal condition and looked better than I feared but not as good as I had hoped. She has a wonderful husband who watches over her.

Our Colleen is headed into my neck of the woods tomorrow to get her poor aching tooth worked on. Pixie dust everyone!! I am headed her way next Thursday which just happens to be the day after her birthday. I will gladly give her a hug from you all. One of my hugs is large enough. smile

Slightly Goofy

 

[IASW Rider]

Hi Everyone!

I've been away for so long and have missed so much - Linda's latest updates, another nice visit from our new friend, Tink, and a very special visit from our old friend, Janet! (We miss you, Janet! We love your Vow Renewal threads and all of your wonderful pictures, though! ) Wow - the things that one can miss, in just a few days!

I am sending pixie dust out Colleen's way, hoping that all goes well with her endodontist appointment, today! I hope that they find that it is either nothing or at least nothing serious, and that her pain is relieved very soon, so that she can go back to the important business of preparing for her award-winning Chili Supper, tomorrow night, and her March WDW-trip-planning-and-PS-making-extravaganza - the important things in life!

Glad to hear that your recovery is coming along nicely, Tink! And hope that your rehab goes well, too! Hopefully you will come to need the Vicodin less and less, as your therapy progresses, and hopefully you will be feeling much better, very soon! I can certainly understand why you'd be concerned about having to do the same sort of repetitive work - like taking the blood pressures, etc. - when you return to work (when is your anticipated return-to-work-date?). As Linda said, is there any way that you might be transferred to another area (assuming that you work in a hospital) or to have other duties (if you work in a private office)? It certainly sounds like you're very busy, since you see so many patients, first thing in the morning! Hang in there - we are thinking of you!

Hi Linda! Thanks so much for "keeping the home fires burning" (or keeping the cool drinks coming, as the case may be! ), here in the Suite! I appreciate your kind words and thoughts, as always! So sorry that I haven't been able to be around as often as I'd like, lately. I have absolutely no news and nothing interesting to report - no fun social plans, or otherwise - just mid-terms, studying, papers, and projects! Very boring - I won't bore you all, with that! (And I appreciate your wishes and pixie dust, but I think that even as wonderful as they are, they won't create A's or A+'s for me........in one of my classes, at least! ) But I did want to come by and say "hello" and that I'm thinking of everyone!

It sounds like you had a very fun and busy Halloween, Linda! It's so nice that you saw some of your "kids" with their own children, and that you got such warm receptions from your trick-or-treaters! I'm not surprised, though - they know where to go when they want some warmth and love and smiles! Did Austin and Dalton have a good time on Halloween? What did they dress as?

I'm sorry to hear that you may not make it to WDW, this year........but it's more important to take care of your health-related and home-related things........WDW will be there waiting for you, when ever you decide to return! And don't you have your England vacation coming up, next year, too?

How are you feeling? Glad to hear that your only test this week was a mammogram - of course those are important to get..........even if they're not the most fun or comfortable things in the world.......! Hope that everything went well.

It's so nice that you were able to spend some time with your friend, 2 nights ago, after not seeing her for so long. I'm sorry to hear that she isn't well, though - I hope that she is all right and it's wonderful to hear that she has such a supportive and great husband to care for her.

And it's wonderful that you and Colleen will be seeing each other next week! Definitely send some hugs her way, on our behalf, and she will send some hugs your way, on our behalf, too! Please take lots of pictures - we will be thinking of you both! I'm sure that you will have a great time! And we will have to start planning Colleen's gala Birthday party, here in the Suite, since we have less than a week to go, now! I'll have to meet with the Suite Gentlemen, later today, to see if they have any good ideas.........!

Hope that all is well with all of you! Have a great rest-of-the-week, and I'll try to be back again, soon!

 

[IASW Rider]

Have a great weekend, Everyone! (Still no news from here in the Garden State - just studying and stopping by to say "hi"!)

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

Howdy there Lisa! I am overwhelming glad to hear that you have no big news to report. As hard as you have been working you have not had much time for fun and if you had 'exciting' news to report it could have only been bad news and we do not want any of that around here.

Dalton was a fireman but he was not happy about it. My dear trivia master Darth had given him his very own Darth Vader costume and that is what he wanted but I think his mom did not have time to find it, if in fact it is even still wearable. He looked cute and I made up a poem for him to say as he knocked on doors. Was ever so much more erudite than 'smell my feet etc.". LOL

It is a sad state of affairs when this ordinary old housewife has more of a social life than you do but next week is going to be a happily busy one. The scales will suffer, I am sure, but I will not. I have a luncheon on Tuesday, a group lunch on Wednesday, lunch with Colleen on Thursday and have to take Tom for a dinner on Friday. I had better walk to some of these events or I will not be able to find any clothing that I can fit into the following week.

I am going to go check out some condos tomorrow. New things are hard for us 'old' folks and the whole concept of sharing a roof with someone else is daunting when you have been independent for so many years. The idea of no outside maintenance is especially appealing since I spent the entire day in my yard working today. Still have bunches more to do. (sigh)

Did I tell you that I am going to meet another DISer when I go to London next year? I have chatted with her a few times the past couple of years and she is a delightful lady and has kindly offered her taxi cab hubbies talents in showing me around. She even has a son my grandson's age. How perfect can it be? We have been swapping pixs of our gardens.

Tink, I hope your poor hand is rested up and you have been rewarded with an easier post when you return to work.

Becki, are you near the early and queezy stages being over? My niece just had her second boy and only had a 25 minute labor. I had the first picture of him in less than an hour and he was born in London, UK.

Colleen, looking forward to seeing you next week. Are you bringing pictures??

SG/Linda

 

[IASW Rider]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY COLLEEN!!!!!

You are cordially invited to an all-day celebration, here in the Suite, in honor of Colleen's Birthday!!!!!!!!!! We'll be starting off with brunch - catered by Chef Mickey's - and will be hosting some special guests - the regular "inhabitants" of Chef Mickey's, including Chef Mickey, himself! Then we'll be touring the parks, moving from one to the next via private, air conditioned motorcoach, with refreshments on board! We'll be breaking for a special lunch at the Kona Cafe, spending the afternoon pool hopping amongst the DVC resorts, and will cap off the evening with a lovely dinner at the California Grill (no hassles involved - we have a special reservation! ) from which we can view Wishes, and a spectacular view of the Magic Kingdom!

Happy Birthday, Colleen - from all of your friends, here in the Suite!

 

[IASW Rider]

Hi Everyone!

Hi Linda!

So sorry that it took me so long to get back here and read your post! It sounds like you're having a very busy and fun week - how have all of your luncheons and visits been? I can't wait to hear about your afternoon with Colleen - I know that you both are going to have some great and fun conversations, and a wonderful time together! And - as I said to Colleen - I hope that one or both of you brings a camera along, so that you can share pictures of you both with us, soon after your meeting! Wish that I could be there, too! Maybe some day..........!

Congratulations on your latest great nephew! That is wonderful news!

And it's so neat that you will be meeting a fellow DIS'er when you are in England! Do you know the exact dates of your trip, at this point?

How did you condo looking / shopping / investigating go? Did you see anything that you and Tom liked? I can imagine how different it must be to consider living in an attached home, after living in a single family home and taking care of your own property for so long. But - as you said - there are some advantages and good points - like not having to worry about the exterior maintenance of your home (.......and shoveling snow........and replacing your roof if necessary, etc.). Please keep us posted!

As always, not too much to report, here! Just wanted to "check in", say "hello" and wish you all a nice week! Talk to you soon!

 

[IamTink]

Sorry it's taken so long to get back to a post over a week ago. I am having physical therapy & it hurts, hurts, hurts & I'm really getting concerned. It's more painful now to type than ever. I have been looking for another job at my same employer as I KNOW that I will simply re-injure it & I don't think that my workmens' comp doc quite gets how many people that I have to do blood pressures on in such a short period of time. I never thought this would be more painful than a cervical fusion w/a plate in my neck! I'm not going to push myself to rehab fast as I have after my car accident & simple other things. Rushed through rehab because I'm always concerned how it's effecting my co-workers and I can't let that come into my thoughts at all now. This stinks big time & I'm going to have to take my time to rehabilitate. I just thought that I would have some resutls sooner. I haven't been in therapy an entire week yet though but it's not good so far. Thanks for asking.

 

[colleen costello]

Tink, I am pulling for you because I have heard from reliable sources there is no torturer greater than the physical therapist. Everyone who has a new knee can tell you so. Hope things get better fast!

Ladies, thank you for the birthday wishes. How I wish I was REALLY in Orlando, but really not a day goes by where I don't wish I was there, so nothing new! I have had a nice birthday. Helped out at the school this morning, then spent the afternoon with my friend as the kids were out of school early today so she was off work. She is just back from a cruise (no Disney, sorry) and had pictures and tales to share. The Carribean is gorgeous and I sure hope to cruise someday, but I am spoiled rotten and would never go through all that planning if I couldn't be on the Mickey boat. Someday... there's always the lottery!

Scott brought home pizza so I didn't have to cook, and the kids and I made me a birthday cake. Erin made me a beautiful card that LOOKED like it said "47." Huh? Did I forget 6 years? Luckily it was just a misprint and it actually said "41" which I fear is bad enough... I was an old bag of 29 when my first was born, so my two have an old Mommy who can remember when there was a Soviet Union, pay phones that took a dime, and even RECORD ALBUMS! I received an extravagant gift from my technology-lover hubby who swore I cold not live without an Ipod. He got me a Nano, which is not much bigger than a Disney resort room key yet can hold 1,000 songs. WOW! It is very cool and I will enjoy it while walking and also doing housework.

So that is all. Hope all is well with everyone. I will write more tomorrow or the next day, after I have had hours of fun talking Mickey with dear Linda.

Colleen

 

[IASW Rider]

Hi Everyone!

Hi Colleen! So glad to hear that you had a nice Birthday - it sounds like a great day! I loved your story about Erin's card! That is so funny! I'm sure that the card is beautiful, though! And hey - I can remember record albums, pay phones taking a dime, and the Soviet Union, too! I'm sure that your cake came out wonderfully (what sort of cake was it?)! And that's a wonderful gift from Scott - I'm sure that you are going to have a lot of fun using it!

How was your day with Linda??? Can't wait to hear all about it - you both must post stories and pictures SOON!

So sorry to hear that you're having such a difficult time, Tink! Hang in there - I know that it must be painful and trying, but as you said, you need to take your time to heal and rehabilitate. I'm sure that things will get easier and more comfortable, soon!

I'm off to my dreaded Biostats mid-term, now............UGH. (At least I can stop boring you all by complaining about anticipating it, now!)

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

 

[SlightlyGoofy]

This has been a magical day!! I got to our meeting site early, as is my wont. Went into a nearby dollar store and found Disney Christmas cards!!! Yeah!!!! Disney AND on sale, my favorite things.

Colleen pulled up, I saw her auto antennae and recognized her van. I had never eaten at Panera's and was a bit nervous about being able to avoid all those delicious looking carbs but she kept me busy talking so it was not TOO painful. My sandwich was on low carb bread (tasted too good so I am suspicious) and was packed with meat and cheese so I am hoping that all that protein was able to overpower the carbs and cause no damage. Was well worth it though.

Colleen brought me a beautiful calendar with two special people on it, in front of Spaceship Earth. I am looking forward to the New Year so that I can install it right by my computer, next to the magnets etc. from Rider. Thank you girls!!!

Tink, you poor dear. It must be so frustrating and especially so since I can tell that you are not the type to complain and have, in the past, soldiered on when maybe you should have not. I hope that you are able to find another job within your company. They would be dumb to lose someone they know is dependable and already trained. Do you feel a tiny bit better each day? If you do, it might give you hope for a recovery at some point.

Lisa, I did find one condo that was quite nice and large to boot but it has been sold. I was amazed at how roomy it was and the fact that it had a half dozen closets on either side of the hallway did not hurt one bit. It was pricey and was in sore need of being brought up to date but was not more than I could have handled. Must not have been meant. I fear that condos here might not include all that yours do. They are a relatively new thing around here and I am not sure if they are as regulated as I would need. I will continue to do research. I am going to do the large bedroom and the upstair hallway this winter. That will be the worst of the worst.

I asked one nice lady to take a picture and she took one. I was too polite to ask for more. I have a busy couple of days coming up so it might be Sunday before I can post the pictures. I will have pictures of my family meet in Cincy as well.

Sending special pixie dust to Lisa to help her survive her Biostat Mid Terms. You will be so relieved when they are over, bet Frank will be too.

Thank you, Colleen, for a fantastic day. We wil have to make this an annual occasion to celebrate your birthday.

SG/Linda (who sends you all hugs, especially gentle ones to Tink)