Debi

Well, I'm late but that doesn't mean my wishes are any less sincere... Thinking of you both and wishing hard that your weekend is wonderful.

Q: How many women with MENOPAUSE (or PMS) does it take to change a light bulb? A: One! ONLY ONE!!!! And do you know WHY? Because no one else in this house knows HOW to change a light bulb! They don't even know that the bulb is BURNED OUT!! They would sit in the dark for THREE DAYS before they figured it out. And, once they figured it out, they wouldn't be able to find the #&%!* light bulbs despite the fact that they've been in the SAME CABINET for the past 17 YEARS! But if they did, by some miracle of God, actually find them, 2 DAYS LATER, the chair they dragged to stand on to change the STUPID light bulb would STILL BE IN THE SAME SPOT!!!!! AND UNDERNEATH IT WOULD BE THE WRAPPER THE FREAKING LIGHT BULBS CAME IN!!! BECAUSE NO ONE EVER CARRIES OUT THE GARBAGE!!!! IT'S A WONDER WE HAVEN'T ALL SUFFOCATED FROM THE PILES OF GARBAGE THAT ARE A FOOT DEEP THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE HOUSE!! IT WOULD TAKE AN ARMY TO CLEAN THIS PLACE! AND DON'T EVEN GET ME STARTED ON WHO CHANGES THE TOILET PAPER ROLL !! . . . I'm sorry. What was the question?

Kathi, I'm not sure if you remember, but I had to put my 17 year old cat to sleep too about a year ago. The same thing, he had been acting sick for awhile, but I was in a denial about it. Part of the reason that I was so devastated, other than the fact that he was such a COOL cat, was because he had shared so much of my life with me. He was a living link to my life in NY, the only tie to the life I had left, and (I know this sounds wierd), he knew my dad, my dad had petted him. My dad died in 1991, but 13 years later, driving from the vet sobbing after leaving Casey, I distinctly felt the loss of this "tie" to my dad, to NY, to everything else I had lost or left behind. Casey had been through it all with me and now I was leaving him behind too. I felt so alone. I hope that you find some peace in the loss of your pet. And I am so sorry to hear about your FIL...

Andrea, Great on the cookbooks! As far as the palpatations - I get those, they seem to go in cycles. Can you lower your caffeine intake any? That really helped me. I know they are scary, the doctor has told me also that they are harmless but they don't FEEL harmless!

Joanie, Way to go woman! So glad to see your good news!

Becky, Jeesh.. I am soooooooo late to reply to your good news...please forgive.. Anyway, WOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

...gasped and Miss Cindi grabbed the chicken repellent (which just happened to be in Brad Pitt's tight jean pocket), , sprayed it on the chicken and poof!!! He vanished, and in his place appeared....

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Maybe we should just go for broke and tape an electric sander with a long cord on our feet... Seriously, if it works, keep us informed.. I may try it. I've had numbness and burning particularly in my feet and toes since surgery, and I know how distracting and uncomfortable it can be. Some days are worse than others but I have never found the "trigger" on why that is. Those bad days are when sandpaper will sound very enticing.

...open up that donut bar out in Skeleton Canyon, Arizona, a life long dream. With a gasp, I was brought back from the residual effects of that acid I took 35 years ago at Woodstock and suddenly, I was back in the closet with my boss where he was grabbing my...

Jeesh Fay!!! Watch yourself, will ya for crying out loud??? Sorry you were set back a bit in the pain category but am sure glad that all you broke was a toe. I think of you every day. Now of course I have the visual of you sprawled out on the floor....

Jim, I echo Becky's post- Ada was one of the first to welcome me also. It is because of her and others like her that I stuck around. I can still close my eyes and see the picture of her, with the lei around her neck. Not only her words but that calm, happy picture gave me hope that it would be alright. Please know, she will always be remembered here Jim. Thanks for posting and I am glad that you are doing okay.

HER DIARY Tonight I thought he was acting weird. We had made plans to meet at a bar to have a drink. I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment. Conversation wasn't flowing so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk. He agreed but he kept quiet and absent. I asked him what was wrong; he said nothing. I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said it had nothing to do with me and not to worry. On the way home I told him that I loved him, he simply smiled and kept driving. I can't explain his behavior, I don't know why he didn't say I love you too. When we got home I felt as if I had lost him, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. He just sat there and watched T.V. He seemed distant and absent. Finally, I decided to go to bed. About 10 minutes later he came to bed, and to my surprise he responded to my caress and we made love, but I still felt that he was distracted and his thoughts were somewhere else. He fell asleep - I cried. I don't know what to do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else. My life is a disaster. HIS DIARY I didn't catch any fish today, but at least I got laid.

Kathy, I read your post the other night but didn't have the time to respond. Have been thinking of you though, for sure! It sort of sucks that you may have to go through something for your heart but if so, how lucky (this would be a wierd lucky )is it that they have caught whatever is potentially wrong, before it does any damage! Good luck with your stress test Monday. I just had one about a month or so ago that I stressed over, because my new doctor didn't like the looks of my EKG. Turns out, after MUCH worrying, I aced the stress test, and the doctor gave my heart a clean bill of health. So hang in there girl, maybe you will be 4 for 4 by the time this is over. And if not, sounds like this is pretty do-able to a survivor such as yourself. Will be watching the board for your results..

Okay, I haven't been on the board for like 2 weeks and I have lots of posts to type on, but I had to do this one right now since it hits close to home: Things that make me cranky: 1. When I run out lunch time to do errands and when I get to the business's door there is a sign up that says "Closed for Lunch" (joys of living in a small town). 2. When I go grocery shopping and there is some woman (sorry, but mostly women seem to do this!), taking forever to pick out a can of vegetables (brain surgery here) and they have left their shopping cart PARKED in the middle of the aisle... 3. Incompetence- ANY kind of incompetence. Like going to the store and the cash register is having a problem and the clerk can't figure out how to COUNT your change out because the register isn't telling them how much money you are supposed to get back... The incompetence category also includes of course, every driver in the world that is in front of me when I'm in a hurry..

A guy stuck his head into a barber shop and asked, "How long before I can get a haircut?" The barber looked around the shop full of customers and said, "About 2 hours." The guy left. A few days later the same guy stuck his head in the door and asked, "How long before I can get a haircut?" The barber looked around at the shop and said, "About 3 hours." The guy left. A week later the same guy stuck his head in the shop and asked, "How long before I can get a haircut?" The barber looked around the shop and said, "About an hour and half." The guy left. The barber turned to a friend and said, "Hey, Bill, do me a favor. Follow that guy and see where he goes. He keeps asking how long he has to wait for a haircut, but then he doesn't ever come back." A little while later, Bill returned to the shop, eyes down. The barber asked, "So where does that guy go when he leaves?" Bill looked up, and nervously replied, "Your house."

A blonde was bragging about her knowledge of state capitals. She proudly says, "Go ahead, ask me, I know all of them." A friend says,"OK, what's the capital of Wisconsin?" The blonde replies, "Oh, that's easy: W."

My first real job was a telephone solicitor for a termite company ! I worked there over a year, they started losing money so got rid of everyone but me and decided to try me out going door to door to canvas neighborhoods. They did teach me a valuable life lesson that I have never forgotten. When entering someone's fenced yard, first rattle the gate back and forth a couple times. IF there is a dog, it will hear it and come running. If after a 3 count, no dog, it's most likely safe to enter.

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2005, if... 1. You accidentally enter your password on the microwave. 2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years. 3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of 3. 4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you. 5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses. 6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries. 7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen. 8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it. 10. You get up in the morning and go on-line before getting your coffee. 11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : ) 12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing. 13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this message. 14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list. 15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on this list.

Lucie is such a tough cookie!! I think of the pair of you often and hope that with every day, Lucie's pain becomes less and less...

This is such an important post and I really don't know how to answer it. Unlike the others before me, I am pretty close-mouthed about my lung cancer, especially among people that I don't know well. As far as a new job, I don't think I would be comfortable discussing my cancer for quite awhile. I have seen people's eyes change when I tell them I have lung cancer; I never could quite identify pity in someone's eyes until now and I really don't like it. I want someone to know ME first, before they know the cancer part. Then, most of the time, it's okay to tell. So as much as I think I should advocate, I guess I need to face the fact that I'll never be a poster child, I just can't do it. My lung cancer is too personal for me. The other point that hit home was the dating one. I don't date, although of course, I am a real catch particularly being 49 years old and not only having a 1st grader but lung cancer as well. Seriously though, I have always thought that if and when I do date, at what point would I tell someone? I mean if you wait too long, it's not fair to them but how do you tell them early on? "Hey, thanks for dinner..by the way, I have lung cancer." And I'm sure the longer you wait, the harder it is to say. OH well, living in this town, I don't even need to fret myself about dating... Anyway, great topic Leslie!!

Oh My God Rick..I don't want to talk about gas!! As you all know, I was so happy to buy my Ford Explorer V8 a year ago... it was a choice between the SUV and a little teeny weeny sports car that was just sooooooo damn cute. Of course I opted for the Explorer since I always had small cars and it would be so nice to have ROOM. Have I ever mentioned my personal, decision-making skills problem?

I bought a used 1971 Ford Maverick. It was white, with burgundy interior and a burgundy pinstripe. My dad brought me to pick it up and I remember him asking me if I had test driven it. Of course I said yes even though I hadn't, I just liked the way it looked! Anyway, it was a 3 speed, on the column, and like Dee, I had no idea how to drive it. I had to admit to my dad that I lied and then spent a bumpy day learning to drive stick. Within a year, someone went through a red light and took off the front fender which I never replaced. I had to stuff a hefty bag in the right front vent inside to keep the cold air from blowing through but it never quite worked and in winter I damn near froze to death.

Well, a big WOOOO HOOOOO from another latecomer!!! Great news Leslie!!!

Good for you Don!! I know this must have been an emotional hurdle for you. Now go celebrate!!!!