Let the Prom Drama CONTINUE . . . . . . . .

[mamacatnv]

It's so funny you all mention dolls. I just consigned my antique dolls (many German bisques, a few painted metal-heads, a Schoenhut, a vintage Campbell Soup Kid, black-haired china-heads, etc.) to an auction house. A friend is helping me sell my 6" international dolls (plastic & celluloid), doll dishes sets and antique paper dolls on eBay. I even have some Madame Alexanders (Little Women + Disney Alice) that I might also sell there as well.

I never was into dolls but BFF's mother has a huge collection that have spilled all over the house. Personally, I find dolls in boxes on display kind of creepy, she has many in cabinets also.

It's been somewhat traumatic even though the dolls have been in storage for *years*. It was just time that they go to someone who would treasure them and display them. I'm still a little sad though.
I did keep a few - a German bisque that's at least 24" and a small bisque Bye-Lo Baby - and gave some family dolls to some cousins.

I still have my Raggedy Anne and Andy and a Holly Hobby that I got from my Grandmother when I was a kid but that's it and there is no way I would part with them. I don't even remember having other dolls.

DD is still not quote up to par, but is feeling somewhat better. She isn't always able to attend a full school-day though, she's still quite exhausted most of the time.
agnes!

Is she still improving? What ever happened with the audition slot?

Have a great time at the Honor Roll ceremoney! Tell your DD that we're proud for her too!

Thanks - we did have a good time, she received the top level award (this school has 3 levels of Honor Roll) She had all A's in both academics and citizenship. (she's such a little suck up )

I hope things will settle down soon, but I know you said it would be until the first of the year, so we'll keep a light in the window for you!

Dang Supreme Court

Mine was a tomboy too (or as the T-shirt says, "Barn Goddess" ), but she did have a collection of porcelain dolls. Some were just inexpensive ones, but some were really nice ones (mainly the ones bought by my mother ). All but one have been stored away.

at the T-Shirt. The only dolls DD has had were a few babies when she was a toddler and she had the kitchen and baby care station to take care of them, then a few Barbies and nothing the past several years. She was never really obsessed. I have 2 Madame Alexander dolls that were my Cousins that my Aunt gave me . DD made me take them out of her room, they were up on a shelf and she said their eyes were creepy. They are now in my closet.

Puppy (probably to be named Soot) is adapting quite well. I googled "black lab puppy", and he's the spitting image of what I found. I was pretty sure that he had lab in him, but it was amazing how strongly he resembled the pictures. I'm sure he's mixed, but he may be like my Siamese (who I know is only half Siamese - they said the was the only one in the litter to look Siamese). You can't tell that he isn't all Siamese just by looking at him. Soot is probably going to look all Lab. My brother has an elderly black lab - wish I could talk him into taking this baby, but that's not likely.

We had a black lab right after we first bought our house - that dog was the stupidest beast on the planet. She was a "runner" we had to keep her leashed or fenced at all times, could never manage to get her house broken and she barked and barked and barked and she hated water Ugh......

After a couple of years we convinced some friends with a 10 acre parcel in the boonies to take her. Our friend is a lot like you Sheila (Dr. Doolittle) and even she said the dog was one of the stupidest she had ever seen so it wasn't just me This dog was foisted off on us by my former boss the crook who had a "papered" male and female and thus figured she could breed them........I think our idiot dog suffered from inbreeding and had all the "bad" traits from the parents and the parents owners

I have had 2 cats that had Siamese mothers - I would love a pure bred Siamese, they are awesome cats but I always end up with the shelter kitties or the misfits that land on the back porch. Barney was pure black, yellow eyes and had the distinctive Siamese meow - people would do a double take when he talked and like many Siamese, he talked a lot. Charlie had many of the Siamese characteristics, beautiful blue eyes, he was gorgeous and the calmest, mellowest cat we have ever owned. He was the "Nanny" cat, we got him when DS was 2 and Charlie would alert us when DS was up out of bed or sick etc.....

Deck'Ster loves all her new toys and yet, I am still finding shredded napkins under the kitchen table The other day, she shredded a (new in wrapper) tampon DH was staring at it and trying to figure out what was all over the floor in the dining room and I was laughing at him and he was clueless as to why (he is such a dork). Then the other night, we were sitting at the table having dinner and Deck'ster was balanced on the back of an easy chair in the dining room swatting at the cat figurines on a shelf. She got 2 onto the floor and was batting them around - this was my "international" shelf and my Egyptian kitty statue was being treated like a ball with a bell. (I collect cat things and when my friends travel, they bring me a cat from the country they have been to) The Egyptian cat I bought at the Egyptian Museum in San Jose, CA (awesome museum) but it was made in Egypt. I have kittys from: China, France, Costa Rica, Mexico, England, Kenya, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, Australia, Tahiti, Malta and a couple from several different Carribean Islands when my Aunt was a "professional cruiser". Some of them are strange, but they were made in the country where they were bought and that is all that counts

I quickly rescued the figurine from Deck'Ster and then I had to move the other figurines back so that Deck'Ster can't reach them. Goofy cat, the Christmas tree might be interesting this year Last night she got one of her balls with the bell in it (her favorite toys) into our bedroom and was chasing it around, this was at 2 a.m. Simon who was sleeping at the end of the bed was no help, he picked up his head, looked at her and went back to sleep. Baxter who probably would have set her straight was all snuggled up with DD and not interested in helping me get some sleep! Baxter finally gave up on DS ever coming home and I think was getting cold sleeping in the hall in front of DS's door so he has taken up residence with DD at night. It's cute!

I'm having fence problems again...but not with the first house in question, now it's the new neighbors on the OTHER side . Wrote up a new thread about it....*sigh*.

Build a mote, quick! I need to go read that thread........

Lets see.....what else.....Oh, I know.
We have been sent forth to continue parenting "unassisted for now, but you have my number" by DD's shrink! He is great, I really really like him. He told us the fact that we were willing to immediately implement his suggestions and that he didn't have to "sell us" on his ideas made his job very easy. DD has responded amazingly well, she has not missed school since the day she spent all day "resting" although I have threatened a day of "resting" twice when she tried to pull the "My stomach hurts" both times she decided she could suck it up and go to school. She has not had a melt down of any kind in over 3 weeks, not even a quivering lip. She is sleeping on average 10 hours a night so she is close to her goal of 10.5 hours, as derived from the sleep experiment. She now goes to bed strictly at 8 on weeknights and 9 on the weekends. I had no idea how much difference that extra bit of sleep would make nor did we realize she wasn't getting enough sleep. The truly amazing part is she does not argue, she too has noticed the benefits and heads off to bed. She also has stopped waking me at night with "I can't sleep" etc. Amazing

She is also learning how to prioritize things and I no longer drop everything to see to her "needs" of the moment since all of her needs are a 10 on a scale of 1-10. He says she needs to learn what is truly a 10 and what is a 4 or 5. Right now, everything is a 10. Makes sense, I always thought that I was lessoning her anxiety by dropping everything and responding to her at that moment. He says that I cannot actually lessen her anxiety but that I need to teach her how to cope with it and learn how to sort out what is more important and by "putting her off" with a set time/date to address her issues I am actually teaching her to "handle" her anxiety. Ok, I'm game........ Example, the other day (Thursday), she brings me a B-Day party invite and wants me to RSVP that very second. She had the invite in one hand and the phone in the other I was cooking dinner and had food in one hand and a knife in the other. Per head shrinkers advice to help her manage her anxiety by being able to prioritize herself and events, I told her to put the invite on her clip (each kid has a magnetic clip on the fridge and the front door) and that I would call to RSVP on Saturday after I got my hair and nails done. Voila........she put it on the clip, I called Saturday and she didn't nag at me several times a day until I did it. Had she have nagged, I have been instructed to "negotiate" a new time and date that would be further away example to Sunday instead of Saturday.

Also have had some issue over the years with lying - now I hate lying, it makes me crazy and DS cannot lie to save his life, however, DD sure can. Yesterday (before our release) he gave us some hints and some insight. He said that because she is so compliant and because she gets worked up so easily that asking her directly "why did you do this?" just makes it worse - her usual answer "I don't remember" or "No" or "I don't know" is a safety response and he said that she probably at the moment could not fess up if she wanted too her anxiety level is way to high. He said, don't bother asking, the fact that she is the only child in the house makes it pretty easy to know if she did or didn't and to just let her know what the consequence is.
Example, DH bought a new deck of cards last week, couple of days later she was showing her Dad a new card game, I noticed that she had drawn a large "B" in black marker on the back of several of the cards. I asked her "why did you do that" and I got the I don't know, I don't remember etc......I actually was at a loss as to how to proceed and DH was sitting there doing and saying nothing as usual (Whole nother story that I will share with you guys via email not a message board sometime soon) so I presented this scenario to shrink and he told me to tell her how much she owed me for the cards - be it money or lack of computer/tv time or whatever I felt it was worth. Again, makes sense.......... I'm gonna miss Mr. Shrink

DS is humming right along, I am looking forward to having him home at Christmas. I'm not too sure if he is thrilled to give up his new found freedom for a month but it is what it is His 19th birthday is the end of this month, I can't believe he is 19....boo hoo hoo

DH's company is laying off 20-30% of their workforce on Friday - DH has been told his dept. is safe but you know how that goes...... all we can do is wait and see. I think he is okay but I think I will be eating a few Xanax over the next couple of days.

Sheila: I know you are really busy with family things just wanted to send you a

Sandy: Don't worry, we know you are out there. Catch up when you can.

Pam: Hope all is well

Agnes: Really nice to have you in this thread......now I am going to go read up on your fence drama......
I still can't imagine not having a fence, the whole "open" concept is confusing to this West Coast City Girl

Catch up with you all later......have a great day

 

[agnes!]

mamacatnv et al -

Thanks for asking about my daughter & her virus. She is doing better but is still not up to her usual level of energy and her focus is not as good as her normal. A friend whose son had mono recommended Co-Q10 supplements. I got some at Costco & DD has been taking them for a couple of days. DD *swears* they are really making a difference .


The fence issues with New Neighbor seemed to have been resolved, but it was very tense around here last night. *Ugh*, I just hate unpleasantness between neighbors and have always gotten along with folks. Hopefully this situation has resolved itself - I'll know when the fence-guys leave today & I can go out in *my* yard to take a look at the changes.

agnes!

 

[horseshowmom]

mamacatnv et al -

Thanks for asking about my daughter & her virus. She is doing better but is still not up to her usual level of energy and her focus is not as good as her normal. A friend whose son had mono recommended Co-Q10 supplements. I got some at Costco & DD has been taking them for a couple of days. DD *swears* they are really making a difference .


The fence issues with New Neighbor seemed to have been resolved, but it was very tense around here last night. *Ugh*, I just hate unpleasantness between neighbors and have always gotten along with folks. Hopefully this situation has resolved itself - I'll know when the fence-guys leave today & I can go out in *my* yard to take a look at the changes.

agnes!

I hope things continue to improve with both your DD and your neighbors!

 

[horseshowmom]

I have had 2 cats that had Siamese mothers - I would love a pure bred Siamese, they are awesome cats but I always end up with the shelter kitties or the misfits that land on the back porch. Barney was pure black, yellow eyes and had the distinctive Siamese meow - people would do a double take when he talked and like many Siamese, he talked a lot. Charlie had many of the Siamese characteristics, beautiful blue eyes, he was gorgeous and the calmest, mellowest cat we have ever owned. He was the "Nanny" cat, we got him when DS was 2 and Charlie would alert us when DS was up out of bed or sick etc.....

Scooter is very vocal too, and he's really a sweetie (when he wants to be).

Deck'Ster loves all her new toys and yet, I am still finding shredded napkins under the kitchen table The other day, she shredded a (new in wrapper) tampon DH was staring at it and trying to figure out what was all over the floor in the dining room and I was laughing at him and he was clueless as to why (he is such a dork). Then the other night, we were sitting at the table having dinner and Deck'ster was balanced on the back of an easy chair in the dining room swatting at the cat figurines on a shelf. She got 2 onto the floor and was batting them around - this was my "international" shelf and my Egyptian kitty statue was being treated like a ball with a bell.

I hope Deckster can stay our of trouble, but she sure has come a long way from her old life! She's been very fortunate.

We have been sent forth to continue parenting "unassisted for now, but you have my number" by DD's shrink!

I'm glad to hear how much improvement there has been on all sides. That's got to make life much better for all of you!

DS is humming right along, I am looking forward to having him home at Christmas. I'm not too sure if he is thrilled to give up his new found freedom for a month but it is what it is His 19th birthday is the end of this month, I can't believe he is 19....boo hoo hoo

We all get a week off at Thanksgiving (including DD). How about ya'll?




Sandy, I copied some of your post and put it here.

The whole thing reminds me of my FIL's final months. He suffered from anxiety and depression and really needed his Xanax (sp?) to keep him from coming unglued. As his health problems increased, they took him off the medication to give him OTHER medication to deal with the physical symptoms. Well, it may have been his body better, but his mind was in hell. So my MIL and SIL got in the doctors' faces and forced them to put him back on Xanax so the poor man wasn't having a mental breakdown as well as a physical one.

I agree with them so much. For goodness sake, he was in his last months. Why should they be any worse than necessary.

Your puppy Soot has made me smile.

DH has now decided that Soot needs to be his dog. His first order of business was to change his name to Bear.

He was laughing this morning and said that Bear was running all over the living room barking and trying to play with Chachi and the cats. Chachi gets up on the backs of the furniture and looks down from above. One day last week, Bear had Tigger by the tail pulling him across the living room. Tigger was looking at him with a long suffering expression, but he didn't claw him or anything. Poor, sweet Tigger...

We went up to Boulder yesterday to take the kids out to dinner and to bring the pugs up so the kids could get their "puppy fix". Butch and Sundance were very well-behaved and there were no accidents in DD's apartment! Hooray! Went to a great Indian restaurant and had a delicious dinner. Both DS and DD seem to be very happy, which is the best thing to see when you are a parent. We love spending time with them. They should be home next Saturday to spend Thankgiving week with us - we can't wait!!

I agree. Having them happy is wonderful - kind of makes you feel like you've been successful as a parent!

Sheila, how is your DD doing? Is she eating better? I hope so. You haven't said much about the wedding plans so I'm assuming you have it all under control - good for you!!

She is eating better but came home sick Friday. She had a shot and got some prescriptions but was really sick all weekend. She had a test at 7:30 this morning but called afterwards and said she thought it went okay. She was getting back into bed when she called. She said that she was feeling better but was really hoarse.

The wedding seems to be under control. The next thing up is ordering the invitations and programs. She'll probably do that over Christmas. She had planned to do them herself, but she found some that she really liked online for a very good price. I was pleased with them too. She's supposed to be getting a sample from them, so that we can see before we order.


Take care everyone!

 

[mamacatnv]

Scooter is very vocal too, and he's really a sweetie (when he wants to be).

The key words of all cats "when they want to be"

I hope Deckster can stay our of trouble, but she sure has come a long way from her old life! She's been very fortunate.

The other night DS was sitting on the couch and Simon the Fat Cat was curled up next to him. Along comes Deck'Ster to cuddle with Simon and lays on DS's hand. DS then proceeded to actually pet her - he and I were amazed! Then last night she takes a swan dive off the top of the cat tree and misses the chair she was aiming for, she lands on the kitchen floor and skids into the water bowl and then lands in the puddle she made. Oh she was mortified and I was standing in the kitchen so I saw the whole thing. I have to remember that she is not much more than about a year and a half old and acts every bit the teenager!

I'm glad to hear how much improvement there has been on all sides. That's got to make life much better for all of you!

She hasn't missed a day of school in weeks and hasn't pulled the stomach issue in almost 3. I think she is feeling empowered and it shows.

We all get a week off at Thanksgiving (including DD). How about ya'll?

The whole week wow, all of us only get Thurs. & Fri. and of course Sat. & Sun.
DS gets 5 weeks at Christmas and we are looking forward to that

Sheila: How are the plans coming along for Florida?

Sandy: Did you decide to stay home or are you taking some sort of vacation?

Agnes & Pam: What are you doing over the Holidays?

We are contemplating heading over the hill to San Jose where my Brother the obtuse sibling lives We want to spend a couple of days in San Francisco. We are actually thinking of waiting till the school kids go back and then taking DD out for a few days. This would avoid a lot of the holiday crowds and DS is off and at home with us until the middle of January. I know DS is looking forward to seeing a few friends who will be home from school during that time also.

I agree with them so much. For goodness sake, he was in his last months. Why should they be any worse than necessary.

You know it is strange, medical Dr's and head Dr's are not on the same page nor do they understand the implications of the body vs. the brain (I'm generalizing, I know that there are great Dr's out there that do) Xanax is an anti anxiety med and if someone has never dealt with anxiety then they don't know how paralyzing it can be so they don't put a lot of weight into the patients mental well being I have named the shrink at the hospital "Doogie Howser" I spoke with my Aunt last night and asked her if he was 12, she said "possibly 13 but not a minute older". He was upset that the previous Dr. had "unnecessarily" given Mother a tranquilizer, however the 6'2" security guard that Mother kicked, scratched and hit thought the tranquilizer was well earned My Aunt is not going to go to the hospital today and I have been trying to track down Doogie to let him know that she is NOT calm, and that he cannot send her back home that he needs to get her admitted somewhere and get her meds stabilized. Then I'm going to send Doogie my bill

DH has now decided that Soot needs to be his dog. His first order of business was to change his name to Bear.

Rats, I really liked Soot - tell your DH to stop trying to masculinate the poor dog by giving him a "big" name

He was laughing this morning and said that Bear was running all over the living room barking and trying to play with Chachi and the cats. Chachi gets up on the backs of the furniture and looks down from above. One day last week, Bear had Tigger by the tail pulling him across the living room. Tigger was looking at him with a long suffering expression, but he didn't claw him or anything. Poor, sweet Tigger...

Okay, that is one seriously patient cat.........Chachi the Wonder Dog will have Bear trained in no time. I still prefer Soot

I agree. Having them happy is wonderful - kind of makes you feel like you've been successful as a parent!

What more can we really ask........ okay in my case a new girl friend (or no girl friend) would be the icing on the cake but happy is good

She is eating better but came home sick Friday. She had a shot and got some prescriptions but was really sick all weekend. She had a test at 7:30 this morning but called afterwards and said she thought it went okay. She was getting back into bed when she called. She said that she was feeling better but was really hoarse.

poor thing, good thing the long Thansgiving weekend is coming up I hope she is feeling better soon. Load her up with leftovers when she heads back to school.

The wedding seems to be under control. The next thing up is ordering the invitations and programs. She'll probably do that over Christmas. She had planned to do them herself, but she found some that she really liked online for a very good price. I was pleased with them too. She's supposed to be getting a sample from them, so that we can see before we order.

That wedding is not that far off.....I'm getting excited

Sandy, I was looking through the Signals and the Wireless catalogs over the weekend and I saw the wooden watches. I can't remember which catalog, I think it was the Signals but they both have so much of the same stuff they sure are unique and very pretty.

Glad the puppies are doing well and that the kids will be home for Thanksgiving. I'm not sure what DS will be doing the entire weekend. His B-Day is over the weekend (we are trying to figure out what to get him, he will be 19). I know he will be with us on Thursday at the hotel, not sure what he will be doing the rest of the time. Probably a combination of home and Girly's Mom's house in N. Ca along with Girly's house and I am sure he will be working some also.

If the weather stays warm like it is we will head up to the mountains to cut our tree. It is so much easier to do when there is no snow on the ground and so far only dustings in the mountains. We won't even need to take the truck, with no snow or mud we can take my van (much more comfy!)

DH actually started prepping the house for the Christmas Lights last night and DS will come help him. The lights have always been "their" project although I think this year that DD wants in on the process.

The annual Father Daughter Ball is this weekend and DD's dress is at the cleaners being pressed, she has an appt. for an up-do and a manicure on Saturday and I still need to order her corsage. For some reason this event just snuck up on me this year. Oh yeah, she needs shoes. She wants ballet slippers as usual so I have to run her to the dance store this week. At least I didn't have dress drama. She wanted to wear the same dress she wore last year and since it actually fits her better this year then heck, okay by me. So DH takes the dress to the cleaners, he calls me "$22 to clean and press" heck, the dress was only $29 but she wants to wear it again, so we go with the cleaning. I bought the dress at Burlington which is a great place for fancy foofoo dresses that don't cost a fortune and since she usually only wears it once or twice it is a win/win situation.

Not much else going on. Hope you all have a great week and catch up when you can.

 

[Sandy V.]

Scooter is very vocal too, and he's really a sweetie (when he wants to be).

Aren't most animals that way? The pugs are so cute just at the very moment when you want to throttle them! Right now, they are very much the description of "Small brain, small bladder, and small rectum".

We all get a week off at Thanksgiving (including DD). How about ya'll?

The kids get all of next week off. I'm working Monday and Tuesday so I can save the rest of my time for when they're home at Christmas.

I agree with them so much. For goodness sake, he was in his last months. Why should they be any worse than necessary.

Absolutely. As it was, during the end he was starting to get so confused and paranoid. It was sad; the Xanax was a godsend.

DH has now decided that Soot needs to be his dog. His first order of business was to change his name to Bear.

He was laughing this morning and said that Bear was running all over the living room barking and trying to play with Chachi and the cats. Chachi gets up on the backs of the furniture and looks down from above. One day last week, Bear had Tigger by the tail pulling him across the living room. Tigger was looking at him with a long suffering expression, but he didn't claw him or anything. Poor, sweet Tigger...

I can just visualize all of this. Bear sound like our Butch -quite the rascal!!!

I agree. Having them happy is wonderful - kind of makes you feel like you've been successful as a parent!

Indeed.

She is eating better but came home sick Friday. She had a shot and got some prescriptions but was really sick all weekend. She had a test at 7:30 this morning but called afterwards and said she thought it went okay. She was getting back into bed when she called. She said that she was feeling better but was really hoarse.

Sounds like that Thanksgiving break is coming at exactly the right time. She needs to come home and get some TLC.

The wedding seems to be under control. The next thing up is ordering the invitations and programs. She'll probably do that over Christmas. She had planned to do them herself, but she found some that she really liked online for a very good price. I was pleased with them too. She's supposed to be getting a sample from them, so that we can see before we order.

Glad to hear it. You two are so organized; when DD gets married I will have to talk to you for inspiration.

 

[Sandy V.]

The key words of all cats "when they want to be"

Very true!!

The other night DS was sitting on the couch and Simon the Fat Cat was curled up next to him. Along comes Deck'Ster to cuddle with Simon and lays on DS's hand. DS then proceeded to actually pet her - he and I were amazed! Then last night she takes a swan dive off the top of the cat tree and misses the chair she was aiming for, she lands on the kitchen floor and skids into the water bowl and then lands in the puddle she made. Oh she was mortified and I was standing in the kitchen so I saw the whole thing. I have to remember that she is not much more than about a year and a half old and acts every bit the teenager!

Poor kitty. It's not that often that cats are embarassed, but poor Deck'ster was. How neat that your DS was able to pet her.

She hasn't missed a day of school in weeks and hasn't pulled the stomach issue in almost 3. I think she is feeling empowered and it shows.

Very good to hear!!!

Sandy: Did you decide to stay home or are you taking some sort of vacation?

Staying home for Christmas. I don't remember if I told you or not, but DD is studying in Sweden this next semester. She leaves the first week of January and will finish in mid-June. We are planning on going over there in June to see her and she'll fly back with us.

We are contemplating heading over the hill to San Jose where my Brother the obtuse sibling lives We want to spend a couple of days in San Francisco. We are actually thinking of waiting till the school kids go back and then taking DD out for a few days. This would avoid a lot of the holiday crowds and DS is off and at home with us until the middle of January. I know DS is looking forward to seeing a few friends who will be home from school during that time also.

That sounds like a lot of fun. I like San Francisco, although the mind set of the folks living there is a little "out there".

You know it is strange, medical Dr's and head Dr's are not on the same page nor do they understand the implications of the body vs. the brain (I'm generalizing, I know that there are great Dr's out there that do) Xanax is an anti anxiety med and if someone has never dealt with anxiety then they don't know how paralyzing it can be so they don't put a lot of weight into the patients mental well being I have named the shrink at the hospital "Doogie Howser" I spoke with my Aunt last night and asked her if he was 12, she said "possibly 13 but not a minute older". He was upset that the previous Dr. had "unnecessarily" given Mother a tranquilizer, however the 6'2" security guard that Mother kicked, scratched and hit thought the tranquilizer was well earned My Aunt is not going to go to the hospital today and I have been trying to track down Doogie to let him know that she is NOT calm, and that he cannot send her back home that he needs to get her admitted somewhere and get her meds stabilized. Then I'm going to send Doogie my bill

You should send Doogie a bill!!!

Sandy, I was looking through the Signals and the Wireless catalogs over the weekend and I saw the wooden watches. I can't remember which catalog, I think it was the Signals but they both have so much of the same stuff they sure are unique and very pretty.

They are cool, although I get very nervous being near water with it. I do like it though - it's pretty easy to dress up or down.

Glad the puppies are doing well and that the kids will be home for Thanksgiving. I'm not sure what DS will be doing the entire weekend. His B-Day is over the weekend (we are trying to figure out what to get him, he will be 19). I know he will be with us on Thursday at the hotel, not sure what he will be doing the rest of the time. Probably a combination of home and Girly's Mom's house in N. Ca along with Girly's house and I am sure he will be working some also.

It will be nice to have everyone home. The dogs will love it!! You haven't mentioned anything in awhile about DS's job. Is it going well?

If the weather stays warm like it is we will head up to the mountains to cut our tree. It is so much easier to do when there is no snow on the ground and so far only dustings in the mountains. We won't even need to take the truck, with no snow or mud we can take my van (much more comfy!)

Good for you - I hate cleaning needles out of my carpet, so my artificial one will be taken out of storage yet again!!

DH actually started prepping the house for the Christmas Lights last night and DS will come help him. The lights have always been "their" project although I think this year that DD wants in on the process.

That sounds like fun. Last year, DS and I did them and got into a fight!!!

The annual Father Daughter Ball is this weekend and DD's dress is at the cleaners being pressed, she has an appt. for an up-do and a manicure on Saturday and I still need to order her corsage. For some reason this event just snuck up on me this year. Oh yeah, she needs shoes. She wants ballet slippers as usual so I have to run her to the dance store this week. At least I didn't have dress drama. She wanted to wear the same dress she wore last year and since it actually fits her better this year then heck, okay by me. So DH takes the dress to the cleaners, he calls me "$22 to clean and press" heck, the dress was only $29 but she wants to wear it again, so we go with the cleaning. I bought the dress at Burlington which is a great place for fancy foofoo dresses that don't cost a fortune and since she usually only wears it once or twice it is a win/win situation.

Awww . . . I hope they have a wonderful time.

Gotta get back to work - everyone have a great day!!!

 

[horseshowmom]

Sheila: How are the plans coming along for Florida?

Still working on them. It looks like I may cancel the night at the Gaylord Palms. DD said that she was happy to go with me if I wanted, but for her part, she wouldn't mind not going to ICE! I really hadn't thought about it, but she does have a problem with the cold. She's cold when everybody else is perfectly normal or even warm. That's one of the problems she has with her health issue. Sooo, I'm probably going to cancel that night. I LOVE the hotel, but we'll probably rent a condo instead (I like more room than just a hotel room). DD is very much looking forward to shopping though!

We are contemplating heading over the hill to San Jose where my Brother the obtuse sibling lives We want to spend a couple of days in San Francisco. We are actually thinking of waiting till the school kids go back and then taking DD out for a few days. This would avoid a lot of the holiday crowds and DS is off and at home with us until the middle of January. I know DS is looking forward to seeing a few friends who will be home from school during that time also.

I think missing the crowds is a great idea. I'm already worrying about the crowds in Orlando during DD's shopping trips. When we've gone for Christmas before, it was the week before NOT in between Christmas and New Year's! But, this will be my parents first year not to come home, so I hated not to go down there (and, of course, my first choice of dates had to be changed).

You know it is strange, medical Dr's and head Dr's are not on the same page nor do they understand the implications of the body vs. the brain (I'm generalizing, I know that there are great Dr's out there that do) Xanax is an anti anxiety med and if someone has never dealt with anxiety then they don't know how paralyzing it can be so they don't put a lot of weight into the patients mental well being. I have named the shrink at the hospital "Doogie Howser" I spoke with my Aunt last night and asked her if he was 12, she said "possibly 13 but not a minute older". He was upset that the previous Dr. had "unnecessarily" given Mother a tranquilizer, however the 6'2" security guard that Mother kicked, scratched and hit thought the tranquilizer was well earned My Aunt is not going to go to the hospital today and I have been trying to track down Doogie to let him know that she is NOT calm, and that he cannot send her back home that he needs to get her admitted somewhere and get her meds stabilized. Then I'm going to send Doogie my bill.

That's something we saw with FIL. Nobody dreamed that he was near death when he was admitted to the hospital. In his case, his mind (strength of will) had taken him further than his body could go. On the flip side, the psychiatrist really thought she could get him back on his feet. That mind/body thing is more than just two aspects of a condition.

At the very least, Doogie should give you a discount!

Rats, I really liked Soot - tell your DH to stop trying to masculinate the poor dog by giving him a "big" name
Okay, that is one seriously patient cat.........Chachi the Wonder Dog will have Bear trained in no time. I still prefer Soot

Thank you! I really liked Soot too, but apparently, I was the only one at my house who did (even my mother, who is in FL and has never seen the puppy, was glad to hear that he had a different name.

One thing I will give DH though, this puppy looks more and more like a bear cub! He seems to have gone into growth overdrive. I thought I had broken his ankle yesterday. I put him down on the top step under the carport (I was trying to sweep the laundry room, and he wasn't helping much), and he lost his balance and rolled down the brick steps. He was limping and yelping when he got up. Of course, the sweeping was over at that point, and I brought him back in. He sat in DH's lap for a long time and was better later. This morning, he didn't seem to be limping at all (thank goodness). From now on, he goes out the back door onto the deck!

What more can we really ask........ okay in my case a new girl friend (or no girl friend) would be the icing on the cake but happy is good

We'll keep that on our Christmas wish list!

That wedding is not that far off.....I'm getting excited

Us too, but I had a sad spell the other night. We've always been so close that it's going to be hard to give my baby up.

Sandy, I was looking through the Signals and the Wireless catalogs over the weekend and I saw the wooden watches. I can't remember which catalog, I think it was the Signals but they both have so much of the same stuff they sure are unique and very pretty.

Okay, that's just plain funny. I was looking at a catalog over the weekend too and also saw the wooden watches. The first thing I though of, of course , was Sandy!

If the weather stays warm like it is we will head up to the mountains to cut our tree. It is so much easier to do when there is no snow on the ground and so far only dustings in the mountains. We won't even need to take the truck, with no snow or mud we can take my van (much more comfy!)

We had a windchill of 24 degrees this morning, but we won't get any snow anytime soon I'm sure!

DH actually started prepping the house for the Christmas Lights last night and DS will come help him. The lights have always been "their" project although I think this year that DD wants in on the process.

We used to do the lights but haven't in a couple of years. In fact, I told DD she could have everything. She's even getting our Christmas tree (due to allergies, we have to go the artificial route). I'm scaling back to a small tree that won't require too much work on my part (she's done ours for the last several years, and I'm not sure I can still do one on my own! ).

The annual Father Daughter Ball is this weekend and DD's dress is at the cleaners being pressed, she has an appt. for an up-do and a manicure on Saturday and I still need to order her corsage. For some reason this event just snuck up on me this year. Oh yeah, she needs shoes. She wants ballet slippers as usual so I have to run her to the dance store this week. At least I didn't have dress drama. She wanted to wear the same dress she wore last year and since it actually fits her better this year then heck, okay by me. So DH takes the dress to the cleaners, he calls me "$22 to clean and press" heck, the dress was only $29 but she wants to wear it again, so we go with the cleaning. I bought the dress at Burlington which is a great place for fancy foofoo dresses that don't cost a fortune and since she usually only wears it once or twice it is a win/win situation.

Sounds great!

Not much else going on. Hope you all have a great week and catch up when you can.[/QUOTE]

The kids get all of next week off. I'm working Monday and Tuesday so I can save the rest of my time for when they're home at Christmas.

I know you'll enjoy having everybody together!

I can just visualize all of this. Bear sound like our Butch -quite the rascal!!!

He's turning into something else (gotten his bearings and gotten comfortable). For some reason, he LOVES all the plants that DH received after his Dad's death. They're still kind of in a group in the corner of the living room, and Bear seems to think they're his own personal jungle to play in (not what we have in mind though).

Glad to hear it. You two are so organized; when DD gets married I will have to talk to you for inspiration.

The credit all goes to DD. Would you believe she even had a binder with categories and pictures (from magazines, internet, etc.) to show the lady exactly what she wanted?

Staying home for Christmas. I don't remember if I told you or not, but DD is studying in Sweden this next semester. She leaves the first week of January and will finish in mid-June. We are planning on going over there in June to see her and she'll fly back with us.

How wonderful! So often girls (or boys) who are involved in relationships won't do anything like that. I've even seen young people who didn't want to go away for a week's vacation because they would be gone from BF/GF. I know your DD is going to have a wonderful time. I have a cousin whose son spent a semester in the Netherlands, and he loved every minute of it. He's been back once since then to visit.




Everybody have a great day!

 

[mamacatnv]

Hi ladies

I will catch up in depth with all of you tomorrow......here is a summary of what will go down in history as the most stressful week I think I have ever had. I'm to the point I feel like all I am doing is whining at you guys, thanks for letting me vent, sorry. I'm going to buy an island and move there
Didn't have to fly to Portland, so far my Aunt has a handle.

Sunday:
Mother remains in the Er - "Doogie Howser" calls me to ask my opinions of meds and what doses I think would be appropriate! Hello, who is the Dr. here

Monday:
Mother was still in the ER (3 days) with no end in site.
Shrink #2 calls me - "she is calm, she can return to her facility"
Facility calls me - She can NEVER return, they just can't handle her behavior.
Oh and since she didn't give 30 days notice all rents paid for November are forfeited. Yeah, okay whatever....I'll let her case worker sort that out. (I understand the homes point, I do, I just feel like they were very sneaky and underhanded) They also blindsided us.

Now what?

My neighbor across the street, 32 yr. old mother of 2 is rushed to the hospital with what looks like an overdose (her DH was clueless, BFF and I had a really good idea but her DH didn't want to see it) she tested positive for Meth, she is a diabetic but the worst of her problems, she had an ulcer blow thru her stomach wall. Not a single Dr. thought she would make it thru the night, she did. She is still alive but considered grave with unknown brain and heart damage (heart stopped 4 times in surgery to fix the stomach).

Tuesday:
Social worker at the hospital calls - Mother has been moved to the psych ward. Meanwhile what to do with her is up in the air.
Spoke with Director of Psychiatry (finally, someone who was not 12!) He thinks it may take "awhile" to get her stable and she may end up at the state hospital.
I start looking for a facility that will consider her. There is 1 that specializes in dementia with challenging behaviors - they will review. It is a nursing home, not a residential care - scary
Mother is assigned a 24/7 aide because she is not safe in the general psych ward with the 20 something schizophrenics experience their first break etc.

Wednesday:
Due to neighbor I am having to pick up more carpool duties since BFF and her DH have been at the hospital for hours on end (they are closer to the neighbor than I am)
Nasty phone call to my brother.......he was not around so I vented to my SIL (she can take it )and she passed on the message...

Thursday:
Discover that a dear friend and mentor from all my years of baseball with DS has passed away.
No answer from any facilities for Mother
Make calls, leave lots of messages.

Friday:
Multiple calls to and from everyone - the social worker, the Psychiatrist, the perspective facility (they are on the fence and will reevaluate next week)
Then I have to call my Aunt and update her.
Meanwhile my Aunt is having to deal with getting all of mothers things (bedroom set) moved from her facility.

Saturday:
The day of the Memorial Service for our friend.
DS calls at 7 a.m. the Resident director had just woken him up. Evidently at 3:45 a.m. a fellow student crashed his truck in the parking garage and hit DS's car and the one next to him. DS panics, evidently the kid left his vehicle and his friends behind in his truck. Campus police had to tow the drivers truck out of the garage.
Summary: The driver (suspected to be drunk) and going way too fast came around the corner in the garage and hit the back end of toyota tundra that was parked next to DS, the Toyotas bumper was pushed into the back quarter panel of DS's Honda. The vehicles are still stuck together. The campus police knew who the driver was and found and arrested him about 18 hours later in a friends dorm room. Per campus police the kid does have insurance but that info will not be released until Tuesday with the police report. Meanwhile DS and the owner of the Toyota have decided not to try and pry the vehicles apart, they don't want the drivers insurance to try and foist off blame for damage because they moved them. We figure the insurance will most likely total DS's car which sucks, we were hoping to not have to deal with a vehicle until he was done with school. I cannot image that the value will exceed the cost of the body damage which is extensive to both vehicles but DS's back end, trunk, bumper and wheel well are totally obliterated.

We went to the memorial service which was standing room only and very touching. (the man started Babe Ruth youth baseball Leagues here in NV in the late 60's and was the state commissioner or asst. state commissioner for the past 30 years)

DD and DH went off to the Father Daughter Ball last night, I went and rescued DS from school, went to dinner with him and girly and then came home and had a few very strong drinks with BFF. Today, I am cleaning and not answering the phone

Have a great week with your kids and families.
Sweden how awesome! I have decided to become a professional travel assistant........you all need an assistant?????? I'll be on the next plane, I've had enough of my current life and think I need a new one

My hungover self is off to do laundry.......dust and vaccum.........

 

[horseshowmom]

Oh... my... goodness!!!

I just thought my week was stressful.

Look, I know this isn't your drug of choice , but can I box you up some chocolate covered doughnuts and ship them out? They won't change anything, but they might make you feel a little better!

Speaking of drugs, it's so sad how many peole get involved with them. IMHO, drugs are like a vampire that suck your soul out of your body. They turn the person into a slave of sorts. I'm really sorry to hear about the neighbor and feel so sorry for her family.

Best of luck with your mother. I only had a small taste of what you're dealing with, but it was enough for me to give you my unadulterated sympathy. I hope something works out soon.

Girl, feel free to vent away whenever the need arises. That's what we're here for...

 

[Sandy V.]

I am so sorry, Melissa, for all of your stress. I'm feeling stressed here as well, but after what you wrote, I have little to complain about. I hope that your brother steps up to help you, but as we know, those things don't always come to fruition. I am empathetic about the car thing because it is very frustrating to have to shell out unexpected $$$ for a vehicle when you were counting on "coasting" with the one you have for the forseeable future. We had to do that with DS's car this past May, as it became clear that it was going to be a money pit and definitely NOT the vehicle we wanted him taking into the mountains to ski this winter.

Sheila, I hope that your DH and MIL are doing okay. I know it's difficult, especially the "first" holidays without family (even with their own difficult personalities, it's still sad). I did see that Ole Miss beat LSU on Saturday night; congratulations. I hope that you're enjoying having your DD home and your week off. I am very jealous!!

DS came home Friday night, DD yesterday mid-day. We are enjoying them. I am working from home Monday and Tuesday, and will take Wednesday off to pre-cook and prepare foods for Thanksgiving. We always celebrate with family friends whose relatives are in Ohio. Too hard to travel this time of year.

Well, everyone take care of yourselves!!!!

 

[mamacatnv]

It's me again! It wasn't a hangover......it was a very nasty case of strep throat! I haven't come out of my room since Sunday except to go to the urgent care.

Starting to feel human....

You all have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy your families and your new puppies.

DS is home and creating a pasta feast for dinner, my bro and his wife drove in this morning but are staying at the hotel we are headed too tomorrow.

Ladies I just wanted to add that this year I am very thankful to both of you Sandy and Sheila and of course Pam and Agnes for all the kind words and good thoughts and always letting me vent.

Bro and Sil just walked in the door. Have a wonderful weekend

Melissa

P.S. the perspective home called today they will take mother

 

[horseshowmom]

Melissa, I'm so glad things worked out with the new home for your mother. I know that's a burden relieved.

I'm also sorry to hear how sick you've been. I'm in the middle of bronchitis myself. I started feeling bad Tuesday morning and went downhill fast. I got shots and prescriptions, so I probably headed off the worst of it.

We normally go out for Thanksgiving, but it looks like we'll be staying here today. I think DH is going to grill steaks (not exactly my first choice for Thanksgiving, but it could be worse). DD and DFi will go over to his grandparents' house tonight for dinner, so she won't miss out on the traditional fare entirely.

MIL was hospitalized earlier this week with chest pains. Fortunately, it turned out to be spasms instead of a heart attack, but the heart catheritization did show a 30% blockage. They're going to be able to treat her with meds instead of surgery though. I know DH and his siblings feel like they've spent most of their life in hospital rooms lately. She did release her last night though.

Like you Melissa, I also am thankful for so many things this year. While there are trials, the blessings far outweigh them.

DH and DD don't even blink an eye anymore when I mention something going on with either of you anymore!

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

 

[mamacatnv]

Where oh where is the head barely above water smilie when one needs it!
Thanks for the offer of donuts! I probably would have eaten an entire box, I know I polished off a cheese cake single handedly.

Hello ladies - I survived, it was touch and go there for awhile , but alas, here I am. DH did have a strange moment, he rolled over at about 3 a.m. one morning last week and I was laying flat on my back with a Otter Pop (Frozen popsicle thing) sticking out of my mouth and he said I was making slupring noises. He was clueless and befuddled it was dark and he had no clue what I was doing or what was in my mouth. Of course I was in a Vicodin induced haze and way too busy trying to numb my throat to even notice. He didn't mention it until the next day but he is still talking about it so it must have been interesting Otter Pops are my friend! They just happen to be a favorite snack of DS's so I was lucky we had some in the freezer.

We made it to the hotel, I napped often and made great use of the really cushy chaise lounges at the pool. Then we went to the buffet where I paid $22.95 plus 20% gratuity to enjoy some mashed potatoes Everyone else said dinner was wonderful. My Bro and his Wife were here and we had a nice visit. My Bro took DS to one of the "nicer" private golf courses Thursday morning for a round of golf, complete with a cart. They had a ball...hahaha.

DH and I did go to dinner Friday night for our 21st wedding anniv. Nothing fancy, it took all my energy to shower and get dressed, in jeans......we went for Mexican. I had a virgin marguerita, even I know better than to mix drugs and alcohol. It was strawberry melon and was right up there with the Otter Pops! I did eat part of a plain cheese enchillada but it was all about my "slurpee".

How are you all doing? How were your weekends with kids, family, friends, puppies, goats, squirrles, chickens and whatever other types of livestock wandered in for dinner

Sheila, how was the Holiday and how are you feeling? Is the family holding up? How is Bear doing? Has Tigger started to stand up for himself yet? What does Kodak think of the new arrival? You all ready to head off to Orlando and shop? Funny how we both saw the wood watches the same weekend.

A wedding binder, sounds like a great idea - I think you should hold onto it after your DD gets married and then when the time comes pass it to Sandy who can then pass it to Pam, then Agnes and finally me (I think I have the DD's in some semblance of chronological order). Can you imagine the memories and the details it could potentially contain after going thru several of our DD's weddings. We all live in different geographic regions of the country with so many varied traditions and customs. I think it would be fascinating, so hold onto it

We haven't spoken of He who should not be named lately, how is the resident idiot superintendent these days?

Sandy, you mentioned your week was stressful, I hope that things have eased up for you. When is your DD leaving for Sweden and is she excited? Isn't it really cold there? I remember the early days of this thread she was contemplating Australia and England (I think) and you all were working on converting the dollar to see which would be a better fit. Does she live with a host family etc? I wanna go
Can you believe it? Our Freshman boys are almost done with their 1st semesters. I can't believe DS will be home in 17 days, seems like yesterday I was counting down to when he would be leaving. I can't wait to have him home. I miss him so much even though we now see him about once a week and we talk everyday. Having them asleep in their own beds in their own home has a comfort factor to it. Although, he was only home 1 night this whole long weekend the rest was at Girly's Mom's in N. Ca. Oh bother!

Looks like the insurance company is going to total DS's car - it's an old beater Honda Accord but we have had it a long time and taken very good care of it. It may not be pretty but it is reliable and free to DS, now we have to start looking for another car and we really don't want to spend a chunk of change, we are still reeling from the tuition and school costs. For now he can drive "Big Ugly" our beater truck. He just can't drive it for long, it has "Classic" plates and registration and is limited on the amount of annual miles it can be driven.

Mother was transferred last Friday, so far, she is still there... ...keeping my fingers crossed. My Aunt when by to check it out, take her some clothes etc. She said she was pleasantly surprised and my Aunt is picky and has the most sensitive nose on the planet. She said the staff was all really nice, the place is immaculately clean and there are lots and lots of fenced grounds with benches, tree swings and even a gazebo for Mother to wander in. She loves to wander so this is a plus. Because the entire facility is dementia care she has the run of the place, not just a small secured area. Once again, it looks like things have worked out in her favor.

DS was home for his Birthday dinner last night - tri tip, garlic mashed, green beans and home made pumpkin pie. I honestly can't remember the last time he had a cake, he loves pumpkin pie and that is what I put his candles in.

The lights are on the house and this weekend DH is forcing me to attend his company Christmas party - yipee kye yay......bunch of nerdy engineers with poor social skills who tell bad jokes that only they get and they dress funny to boot Oh well..........My cousin works in marketing, all the "girls" in her dept. are going together, she is in her mid 20's and a heck of a lot more fun that DH's group......I might have to abandon ship and find dear Ole Cuz

Not much else to report, other than it is almost 70 today no snow in sight...........Oh and the Nevada WolfPack beat Louisiana Tech on Saturday thus securing a bowl game I also saw Ole Miss beat someone but didn't catch who

Agnes: How is your DD doing?

Pam: Is DD coming home for Christmas??? How has her first semester gone?

Well, I have a lot of catch up to get done. You all have a great week

 

[horseshowmom]

Hello ladies - I survived, it was touch and go there for awhile, but alas, here I am. DH did have a strange moment, he rolled over at about 3 a.m. one morning last week and I was laying flat on my back with a Otter Pop (Frozen popsicle thing) sticking out of my mouth and he said I was making slupring noises. He was clueless and befuddled it was dark and he had no clue what I was doing or what was in my mouth. Of course I was in a Vicodin induced haze and way too busy trying to numb my throat to even notice. He didn't mention it until the next day but he is still talking about it so it must have been interesting Otter Pops are my friend! They just happen to be a favorite snack of DS's so I was lucky we had some in the freezer.

He was thinking, "That's it, she's finally lost it...", but he was probably too afraid to actually say it considering everything you've been through lately.

You have my sympathy. I went back to the doctor today, and it looks like my bronchitis has turned into pneumonia. I've been running fever since the first of last week, and I have just about coughed my chest inside out. I've been instructed to spend the week in bed, and I will most certainly comply. If I had a sore throat, I'd be searching for the medicinal Otter Pops!

How are you all doing? How were your weekends with kids, family, friends, puppies, goats, squirrles, chickens and whatever other types of livestock wandered in for dinner

Oh my goodness, don't even joke about that! You never can be sure at my house!

Thank goodness for DFi's grandparents sending us plates home with DD when they found out I was sick. That cheered me up some. At least my throat wasn't sore like yours, so I could at least eat.

Sheila, How is Bear doing? Has Tigger started to stand up for himself yet? What does Kodak think of the new arrival?

When he got here about a month ago, Bear was about half to two-thirds as big as Chachi, now he's TWICE as big. He is going to be a big boy, I'm afraid. He loves it in front of the fireplace and is making progress with getting the jist of what "outside" is for, so that's a plus.

Tigger is gradually being forced to tell Bear "No" a little more forcefully. The fact that he's grown so much has contributed to that. He's still not "there" yet though.

Sometime this morning after DH got up, DD's cat Stormy got in bed with me. He loves to snuggle up close, put his head on the pillow, and his little arm around your neck (it gives him leverage if you try to get up before he's ready for you to... ). Sometime after DH left, Tigger came and got in bed with me. Apparently, he just laid down right on top of Stormy and stretched out next to me (I vaguely remember Stormy kind of pulling himself out, but like you, I've been pretty heavily medicated lately ). Considering how big Tigger is, it's a wonder he didn't suffocate poor Stormy!

You all ready to head off to Orlando and shop?

Final plans have now been made. I've been wanting to stay at the new Bonnet Creek Resort. It adjoins Disney property, and you have to actually go onto the property to get to it. I've been watching the timeframes listed on ebay and hadn't been able to get my exact dates (close, just not the exact ones), so I negotiated with a seller who obtained my dates and did a Buy It Now for me for $725. I got $72.50 off with the Paypal 10% discount and $200 off with the Microsoft 30% cashback for a total of $452.50 for 5 nights (arriving on Christmas Day). I was very, very pleased based on what the going rate for a 2BR/2BA is.

DD can shop to her heart's content. I can tour all the Disney resorts to see their Christmas decorations that I never have time to look at when I'm in the parks, and we can drive down to visit my parents. Mother will probably stay with us.

Barring any unexpected problems, I think I'm good to go!

Funny how we both saw the wood watches the same weekend.

I kid you not, sometimes some of this gets very strange!

A wedding binder, sounds like a great idea - I think you should hold onto it after your DD gets married and then when the time comes pass it to Sandy who can then pass it to Pam, then Agnes and finally me (I think I have the DD's in some semblance of chronological order). Can you imagine the memories and the details it could potentially contain after going thru several of our DD's weddings. We all live in different geographic regions of the country with so many varied traditions and customs. I think it would be fascinating, so hold onto it

I'll tell DD!

We haven't spoken of He who should not be named lately,

Well, we got a phone call from someone tonight asking us if we had heard that he had been in a fight this weekend (broken hand and black eye). I really find that hard to believe, but the person said they had heard it from several sources. Supposedly, the other person was a football player from a private high school with a sometimes snooty clientele in a neighboring county. I'm curious to see if there is any truth to this. Now if it was some situation where his family was threatened, he has my full support, but under any other circumstances, there would be no excuse. We'll see...

Sandy, you mentioned your week was stressful, I hope that things have eased up for you. When is your DD leaving for Sweden and is she excited? Isn't it really cold there? I remember the early days of this thread she was contemplating Australia and England (I think) and you all were working on converting the dollar to see which would be a better fit. Does she live with a host family etc? I wanna go

I wanna go too!

Can you believe it? Our Freshman boys are almost done with their 1st semesters. I can't believe DS will be home in 17 days, seems like yesterday I was counting down to when he would be leaving. I can't wait to have him home. I miss him so much even though we now see him about once a week and we talk everyday. Having them asleep in their own beds in their own home has a comfort factor to it.

It seems like DD just barely finished her first semester. OTOH, that was when she and DFi (then DB) broke up, and she wound up starting to date the other "he who shall remain nameless" who went on to cause so much trouble (as DD refers to him ). Glad that's over and done with!

Like you, DD is home every weekend, but we really enjoy the longer breaks. In my case, I really relish them since I know the countdown is on...

Although, he was only home 1 night this whole long weekend the rest was at Girly's Mom's in N. Ca. Oh bother!

Rotten kid, no chocolate doughnuts for him (and hide his Otter Pops while you're at it)!

Looks like the insurance company is going to total DS's car - it's an old beater Honda Accord but we have had it a long time and taken very good care of it. It may not be pretty but it is reliable and free to DS, now we have to start looking for another car and we really don't want to spend a chunk of change, we are still reeling from the tuition and school costs. For now he can drive "Big Ugly" our beater truck. He just can't drive it for long, it has "Classic" plates and registration and is limited on the amount of annual miles it can be driven.

Good luck looking! We were so fortunate when we got DD's car. My parents live in a retirement community, and a lady they knew had gotten too old to stay on her own after her husband died, so she sold everything to fly back up north. We got her 2003 Malibu (at the time it was only about 2 years old with 30,000 miles) for $7500. The same car was selling for $11,500-$14,500 on the lots at the time. On top of that it gets about 35 mpg. Since she drove her first two years, that was a great help. Maybe you'll be able to get a good deal in today's market, but I sure understand about not wanting to spend the extra money (particularly with today's economy) PARTICULARLY when it wasn't HIS fault to start with.

Mother was transferred last Friday, so far, she is still there ...keeping my fingers crossed. My Aunt when by to check it out, take her some clothes etc. She said she was pleasantly surprised and my Aunt is picky and has the most sensitive nose on the planet. She said the staff was all really nice, the place is immaculately clean and there are lots and lots of fenced grounds with benches, tree swings and even a gazebo for Mother to wander in. She loves to wander so this is a plus. Because the entire facility is dementia care she has the run of the place, not just a small secured area. Once again, it looks like things have worked out in her favor.

That makes it much easier on everybody concerned. Being able to wander about the grounds may help keep her from becoming so upset too.

DS was home for his Birthday dinner last night - tri tip, garlic mashed, green beans and home made pumpkin pie. I honestly can't remember the last time he had a cake, he loves pumpkin pie and that is what I put his candles in.

Works for me!

The lights are on the house and this weekend DH is forcing me to attend his company Christmas party - yipee kye yay......bunch of nerdy engineers with poor social skills who tell bad jokes that only they get and they dress funny to bootOh well..........My cousin works in marketing, all the "girls" in her dept. are going together, she is in her mid 20's and a heck of a lot more fun that DH's group......I might have to abandon ship and find dear Ole Cuz

Have as good a time as possible (I hate company Christmas parties! I know, I'm a Scrooge! ). I'll be staying here trying to stay warm and get well.

Not much else to report, other than it is almost 70 todayno snow in sight

Would you believe that when I went to the doctor today it was sleeting very heavily? So much for Mississippi being warmer than Nevada!

...........Oh and the Nevada WolfPack beat Louisiana Tech on Saturday thus securing a bowl game I also saw Ole Miss beat someone but didn't catch who

Well, let's start with Ole Miss. Ole Miss did win and won big - 45 to 0. It was great for the Ole Miss fans and the new coach. This is the first winning season they've had since Eli Manning graduated.

Unfortunately, they beat Mississippi State (which is where DFi, DH, and I are alumini ). DH, DFi, and my brother sat through the bloodbath which took place on the Ole Miss campus (DBro had free tickets - talk about bad timing).

Now, I have to be honest. I really didn't mind Ole Miss winning because they were already headed to a bowl game, but the win would give them a better bowl (and MSU didn't have a chance at a bowl game period). This is a HUGE interstate rivalry (referred to as the Egg Bowl with a golden football trophy).

BUT, I really wish it hadn't been THAT bad! The MSU coach promptly resigned the next day (only one winning season since 2000 - he's a nice guy with a lot of class, but he probably did need to go). Here's the kicker, wait for it, it looks very strongly like he will be replaced with the Louisiana Tech head coach (didn't I already tell you how strange all these coincidences get sometimes!).

You all have a great week

You too!

 

[mamacatnv]

Sheila:
Get better soon. Stay in bed and cuddle with your animals (sounds very sweet) pneumonia is nothing to fool with. Chicken soup on it's way.

 

[Sandy V.]

I'm back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I hope everyone is feeling better by now. Melissa, it sounded like you had some REALLY good drugs!! Sounds like you needed them too, poor thing. Sheila, I hope your chest is clearer now. I have been healthy, so you two are forbidden from breathing on me!!!

I have felt so guilty at not writing much lately, but with this new reorganization at work, I have been given 1/2 of another person's job in addition to mine, as well as two new projects. I have been working on one and it should be done by early next year, the other one won't really start until around February or so. We still don't know what this new "animal" will look like, but I don't really feel in jeopardy of my own job, so that's one good thing. I guess I'm competent enough to just pile on more work and see what she does!!

First of all, I hope you and your families are doing well and in the holiday spirit. We are slowly getting there. The tree is up, no decorations on it as of yet, but I'm hoping to string lights tonight - provided the dogs cooperate in letting me!! They are all well, by the way. Potty training is STILL a challenge, but it is slowly getting better. Today is VERY cold, so they do NOT want to go out!!

Both kids are in the middle of finals right now. Both had one on Saturday, DD has two today, DS one, and then DD has one Wednesday and DS Thursday. Both will be home by Friday. I can't wait to have them here. I am taking Friday off and all of next week. Should be fun!! I am taking both of them shopping next week, as "Santa" doesn't have much of a clue what to get them unless they are right there to tell me.

Your kids should all be home soon as well!!!

Went to a Christmas Party/Dance on the 6th for one of DH's clients (a very wealthy one who bought a company and had DH do some of his legal work for the acquisition and operating agreement). Lots of fun, and I even got DH out on the dance floor for quite a few dances - which was a miracle in itself - DH does NOT like to dance. Afterwards, because the party was quite a ways from our house, we got a motel room, and we were VERY glad we did because Mr. Wealthy came to our room with his girlfriend (he just separated from his wife six or so months ago and is, I think, looking too early for the new "the one") and we sat, drank some wine, and talked UNTIL 4:30 in the morning! To gve you an idea of how NON partiers we are, the last time we stayed up that late was when I gave birth to DD 21 years ago!! Regardless of the late hour, we did have a lot of fun.

DD turns 21 on Thursday and I am still in shock that our "baby" is going to be this old. DH's birthday is Friday, and we are all going out to dinner as a family that night to celebrate both birthdays.

DD leaves for Europe on January 7th. She and DB will go to Paris for a week and stay in hostels and at one of boyfriend's friend's houses near Normandy. Then she will fly to Stockholm, spend the night at the hotel at the airport, and then take the bus to Uppsala, to the university. She is staying in one of the dorms, and from what she told me, it houses about 50% international students and the rest Swedish ones. She signed up to have a Swedish "buddy", and the girl wrote her back the other day. She's 20 and is from a town in southern Sweden. DD is looking forward to meeting her when she gets there. DD's boyfriend will fly from Paris to South Africa, en route to Madagascar (sp?) where he will be studying for the semester. Busy and very lucky kids!!

DH and I are going to miss her like CRAZY when she's gone, but we're very happy that she has this opportunity to go. Our plan is to go over there and visit her in June when her term is over.

Sheila, I can't believe your superintendant got into a fight, but then again, maybe I can. . .

Your DD's Fi's grandparents sound like very nice people to fix you some food. She found a keeper!!! I hope she does well on her finals!!

I saw that northern Mississippi got snow and sleet. Did you get hit with it? I hope not for your sake!!!! Stay warm!!!

Melissa, I hope that you found a decent set of wheels for your DS. There is nothing so frustrating as having to replace a reliable car that you really DIDN'T want to have to replace at all!!! Good luck to him on his finals too!!

I am also glad that your Mom is in a better facility with a secure ward. That's a very good thing.

Well, folks, surprise, surprise - work calls. Just wanted to check in and let you know that I'm still thinking about all of you. Take care, and I'll try to write more soon.

 

[mamacatnv]

Oh my gosh, I haven't checked in in days

How is everyone?

DS has his last final today and will be coming home tonight!

Thank goodness for DFi's grandparents sending us plates home with DD when they found out I was sick. That cheered me up some. At least my throat wasn't sore like yours, so I could at least eat.

How are you feeling?

When he got here about a month ago, Bear was about half to two-thirds as big as Chachi, now he's TWICE as big. He is going to be a big boy, I'm afraid. He loves it in front of the fireplace and is making progress with getting the jist of what "outside" is for, so that's a plus.

it's all that good southern cooking!

Tigger is gradually being forced to tell Bear "No" a little more forcefully. The fact that he's grown so much has contributed to that. He's still not "there" yet though.

Tigger sounds like such a sweet cat

Sometime this morning after DH got up, DD's cat Stormy got in bed with me. He loves to snuggle up close, put his head on the pillow, and his little arm around your neck (it gives him leverage if you try to get up before he's ready for you to... ). Sometime after DH left, Tigger came and got in bed with me. Apparently, he just laid down right on top of Stormy and stretched out next to me (I vaguely remember Stormy kind of pulling himself out, but like you, I've been pretty heavily medicated lately ). Considering how big Tigger is, it's a wonder he didn't suffocate poor Stormy!

I love when the cats snuggle. Simon likes to sleep at my head with my hand on his belly or if I am just resting or watching tv he lays in the crook of my arm with me rubbing his belly. Life is rough!

Final plans have now been made. I've been wanting to stay at the new Bonnet Creek Resort. It adjoins Disney property, and you have to actually go onto the property to get to it. I've been watching the timeframes listed on ebay and hadn't been able to get my exact dates (close, just not the exact ones), so I negotiated with a seller who obtained my dates and did a Buy It Now for me for $725. I got $72.50 off with the Paypal 10% discount and $200 off with the Microsoft 30% cashback for a total of $452.50 for 5 nights (arriving on Christmas Day). I was very, very pleased based on what the going rate for a 2BR/2BA is.

I wouldn't expect anything less

DD can shop to her heart's content. I can tour all the Disney resorts to see their Christmas decorations that I never have time to look at when I'm in the parks,

Have you ever seen the Ginger Bread house at the GF? It is amazing....you smell it as soon as you walk in...the chocolate carousel at one of the beach resorts (I don't remember which one) was also worth the time to go see.

I kid you not, sometimes some of this gets very strange!

Funny how different yet similar our lives can be! The term small world comes to mind. It really is a small world sometimes

Well, we got a phone call from someone tonight asking us if we had heard that he had been in a fight this weekend (broken hand and black eye). I really find that hard to believe, but the person said they had heard it from several sources. Supposedly, the other person was a football player from a private high school with a sometimes snooty clientele in a neighboring county. I'm curious to see if there is any truth to this. Now if it was some situation where his family was threatened, he has my full support, but under any other circumstances, there would be no excuse. We'll see...

Well, was the rumor true

It seems like DD just barely finished her first semester. OTOH, that was when she and DFi (then DB) broke up, and she wound up starting to date the other "he who shall remain nameless" who went on to cause so much trouble (as DD refers to him ). Glad that's over and done with!

I remember that, so scary for all of you. Did Mr. Creep disappear off the local radar?

Do you guys remember me telling you about the young girl (19) that was abducted from a home in the middle of the night near the Univ. last winter? Her body was found here in town a couple of weeks later. The evidence from the scene linked the killer to at least 2 other sexual assaults on the campus. The authorities had no suspects. We were all worried that he had moved on to another college town. The week of Thanksgiving authorities made an arrest. He had moved on to Washington state for a job and then had just recently returned here. He and his girlfriend have a small child. His girlfriend was telling a friend of hers about some panties she had found in his truck. He later sold that truck. Anyway, on Nov. 1st the friend called the tip into Secret Witness, the authorities interviewed him but he refused a DNA test. The authorities then went to the Mother of the child and asked permission to take a DNA sample from the child. She agreed, it was a match and they then got a court order for his DNA. It was a match and he was arrested. He was arraigned last week. This community breathed a huge sigh of relief. DS says you can "feel the difference" on campus.

Good luck looking! Maybe you'll be able to get a good deal in today's market, but I sure understand about not wanting to spend the extra money (particularly with today's economy) PARTICULARLY when it wasn't HIS fault to start with.

We are still looking - we finally agreed to an offer from the insurance company. I balked at the first 2 offers, basically said okay, where is this car you are basing your value at so I can see it and buy it............Finally, offer #3 was good. They were supposed to settle last week and called at the last minute to cancel, something about their person was out of the local office. I had rented a car the night before so they have now agreed to foot the bill.

The invention of Craigslist is a blessing and a curse. Every car shark in the world list their cars and a good 75% of them are some sort of scam, they have salvaged titles or have been wrecked. They don't have clean titles when we run the CarFax report, that is if we can even get the VIN# to run the report. So many of these people are very evasive. Then there are the ones that the titles are clean but they don't actually own the car. We had a guy say to us last week "I need to pay off the bank, you pay me and I'll pay the bank and then I will personally drive the title to your house" okay, yeah right, do we really look that stupid? He offers us a "release of liability" ummm, yeah, that still doesn't protect us. So we keep looking.

That makes it much easier on everybody concerned. Being able to wander about the grounds may help keep her from becoming so upset too.

The home called me twice last Friday - Mother has been antagonizing her roommate and stands over her bed and "Pokes" her. Ugh........They are moving Mother to a private room but have already warned me that if they can't get her behavior under control that she won't be staying. I have a feeling she is going to end up at the state hospital before too long.

Have as good a time as possible (I hate company Christmas parties! I know, I'm a Scrooge! ).

We showed up just in time for dinner, ate, visited briefly and then left. We went to the mall and picked up stocking stuffers for the kids. We were a sight to see, I was in a full length black velvet dress with my heels in my hand wandering thru the mall

Would you believe that when I went to the doctor today it was sleeting very heavily? So much for Mississippi being warmer than Nevada!

Until Saturday.......cold snap here with snow and ice. I just got into the office after the worst drive I have had in years. It took me 1.5 hours to get the girls to school (13 miles) and coming back to work I was on the freeway (they are always plowed first) the snow was coming down heavy and there was a small pickup in one of the travel lanes trying to put on chains The traffic was having to suddenly shift away from the little truck and everyone was slipping, sliding and spinning. There was a semi truck that was sliding towards me sideways and a car in front of me that did a complete 360 while I and the car behind me were fishtailing and slipping all over the place. I was petrified....thankfully because I am a huge chicken I had lots of room around me, was only going about 10 mph and was able to stay out of the way......... I have never ever gotten stuck or hit but I was convinced both were going to occur this morning.

I did get to the office in one piece and was still shaking when I walked in the door. Called my BFF with the LandRover and told her that she was in charge of pick up from school today because I am never driving again! This is one draw back to the Charter School, it is not in our neighborhood, it is in town at the bottom of the hill and we live out North at the top of the hill. We are about 1000 feet higher in elevation than the majority of the City of Reno. It took DH 2 hours to get to work, 23 miles to the opposite side of town. I'm moving to Florida

We went out yesterday and got our Christmas tree - the weather was too bad (it's no fun if it is really, really cold which it was) to go into the mountains so we went off to the tree lot where we supported the local BoyScout troop. TreeZilla (11' Silver Tip) is in the house! Deck'Ster is fascinated and petrified all at the same time. Poor kitty spent most of the evening peeking out from under furniture with a big fluffed up tail!

How are you all doing? I read that Pam's DD was due home over the weekend and she was super excited! We are lucky, we all have seen our kids, she hasn't seen DD since DD left in August.

DS has his last final today and will be headed home tonight - although he said he might need me to bring the van so he can load up, I told him I'm not driving and that he can call the snowplow Doesn't have to be out of the dorm until Thursday.......

DH and I finished all the shopping on Saturday - now to wrap it all....ugh and clean the house.....double ugh.........and decorate the tree.....the house......gotta love the Holidays!

Well, I must get back to work although all we are doing is sitting here plotting what time we are all leaving so we can make it home at a decent hour. Still snowing gangbusters

You all have a great week, enjoy your kids and stay safe in all the crazy weather!

 

[agnes!]

Thank you to one and all for the updates.

Shelia - Sorry for the pneumonia...ugh! Sounds like you're on the mend?

And the fist-fight? I'm confused as to who/what/when...will have to go look over the last page or two when I have more time.

I'll check in with some bits too.

DD is feeling better, but still is tired. i think that this is some residual tiredness from her virus, but also just having all this work to do for school. She is applying to a very exclusive (not as in expensive, just VERY hard to get into) summer program. It's useful training for her to shepherd her application through the process, even if she doesn't get in. Good training for junior/senior year.

December 5th I went in for an eye exam (thought I just needed new glasses) and instead found out I have cataracts . *Then* had to get blood-tests done on the 11th because cataracts can be a symptom of *diabetes*.
Just found out today that everything looks pretty much normal. YAY!!!! Still have to get surgery sometime next year though - the cataracts are causing glare, especially when I am driving at night...headlights look like they have stars around them. Not fun.

Have workmen here today. Sheds are getting painted, they cleaned out the one shed & I threw out a LOT of stuff.

You all might remember my fence-saga from a while back? Well, on the *other* side (with the big BIG new house) the final survey was done. Uh-oh, they moved one lot-corner ? I got perturbed and had a surveying company come in last week....*they* couldn't quite figure out where some of the lot-lines were (oddly, that made me feel better). Surveying company came back today & were able to pin *our* lot. (We hadn't had a survey done since we moved in, over 20 years ago.) *So*, now *We* have our own survey and aren't relying on the lot-surveys around us.

Gee, lots of people in and out today and lots of stress. I think I need some chocolate...or a stiff drink (LOL).

agnes!

 

[Sandy V.]

Our posts crossed, Melissa - It was so nice to hear from you!!! I am jealous about you getting your shopping done - I have only picked up a few things. Next week will be very hectic around here!!!

That's too bad about your mom - I hope they can get her under control, but unfortunately they may not have any other choice but to place her in the state hospital if she continues to deteriorate. I'm so sorry.

Hang in there with the car settlement and the actual buying. There are a lot of thieves out there who will try and scam you!!!

Stay warm as well. I hate the ice. We are very cold, but it's not icy right now. However, I will NOT be driving today either!!!