TerriDoodle

Judy -- PLEASE, for Pammy's sake...don't forget your PJ's! :smile2:

Jenn, I would like to make a suggestion to you. When you get to your gate, let one of the clerks at the desk know that you have an intense fear of flying...and any suggestions or assistance they can provide would be very welcome. They are trained to help in such instances and might be very helpful to you... might switch your seat to the front part of the plane so they can keep an eye on you, check on you frequently, provide you with all the booze you need, etc.... LOL Are you planning to take any medication to help calm your nerves? Oh, and yes, you can get into serious trouble for drinking too much if it causes a disturbance to other passengers. So....please be careful about drinking...and especially don't do so if you're going to take any medication as well. I don't want to have to bail you out of jail!!! Remember Lunasa?? It happened to her! Please be careful.

ROFL!!! The May 2008 bandsters have named themselves the SHRINKO de Mayo's....LOL!! Isn't that hilarious!?

SHRINKO DE MAYO!! LOL!!!! I LOVE IT!!!!! May you flourish the way the Shrinking Violets have (April 07 group). Good luck to you all!!!!

Well, Tracy, I bet you can guess what I'll be doing this rainy Saturday!..... I'll post when I'm done.... i've got a cute project in the works. Wish I could say I designed it, but I "steal" all my designs. Maybe someday I'll make the leap to 'ARTIST'. Wow, that would be cool. Janie - Ugh. I hate going to work when I'm sick!! I hope you start to feel better quickly. You remember how our moms used to send us to school saying, "You'll feel better when you get there." Most of the time they were right. Moms usually are...it just takes us a lifetime to figure it out. My daughter doesn't take ANY of my advice unless I force her to!! That whole black/white thing.

lol...no, I didn't write that! Arent you familiar with the song? I'll have to sing it for you when I see you...you'll remember the tune.

Ok Jenn....here's a little tune I want you to sing to yourself whenever you get nervous. :musical_note:I love:heart: my Violets, oh yes I doooo:musical_note: I love:heart: my Violets and I'll be truuue:musical_note: When they're not with me, :w00t: I'm bluuuuue!!:sleep: :musical_note:Oh Violets, I love youuuuu!!!:tongue2:

Ok, well...considering your 'driver' will not be able to get past security without a boarding pass, the only place where she can meet you (logically) is in the baggage claim area. So I would suggest that the drivers just show up at the last minute, grab the crew in the passenger pick-up area and GO. Parking is always a bitch at any airport, especially IAH! As for who meets who where WITHIN security...that's what your cell phones are for! But for instance, the IAH group.... Laura gets in at 8:00a. She goes down to baggage claim and grabs her suitcase if she's checking. Finds a place to hang out for an hour+ ....Michelle and Kat arrive soon after that, call Laura and tell her where they are. Otherwise just meet at passenger car pickup right outside of baggage claim and call Haydee to say they've arrived. YOU HAVE TO ALL MAKE SURE YOU MEET UP IN THE SAME TERMINAL! IAH has *FIVE* terminals! There are trains that connect them if you have to move from one to the other. You should be able to find out from your airline which terminal your flight will go into...they're almost always the same one. I.e., most continental flights go into Term C. Most American goes into Term B, etc. Pam you get in an hour+ before Judy....so it's between you and TracyK if you want to meet and wait together...but I don't really suggest that. The hassle of parking and finding a place to meet may not be worth it. Pam could just find out what gate Judy's flight gets into and go wait for her to de-plane! :-) SAT is much, much smaller than IAH so won't be an issue. The only thing is luggage. If you have to go claim your bag, you won't be able to get back thru security with it to go meet her at the gate. Y'see? My group all gets in pretty close together at SAT...so I plan on just swooping into passenger pickup at about 11:30a, picking up and GO. NOW, the BIG variable is whether or not everyone's planes get in on time like they are supposed to. That would be a freakin' miracle of miracles!!! (Judy, this is where your prayin' skills might come in handy!) Bottom line is that it's going to be very important that everyone has everyone's cell phone numbers programmed, phones turned on and charged up good!! What did we ever do without cell phones???

I JUST HAD AN 8 PARAGRAPH POST DISAPPEAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want to break something!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, cool, Tracy!! He is??? Neat-o!

oh, we are definitely doing the Mercado....that's where Mi Tierra is... THE home of Tex-Mex!!! YUM!!!

Kat, what if she's just starting to get a bug or something little like that? Is she on any new medications or eat any weird food lately (possible allergic reaction)? Everyone's on pins because of what she's been going thru recently, but this is probably totally unrelated. Try not to get upset. Is she feeling any better now...? ...or still the same?

I think it's kinda lame...but you can do it if you want to! Can I have a show of hands?? San Antonio is very rich in history... we could take driving and/or walking tours to see the missions and old neighborhoods. The Alamo is easy 'cause it's right on the river, so that's a given. But who would like to see the history stuff beyond the Alamo on Sunday afternoon?? And who would rather just stroll the river, eat, drink and shop? Keep in mind that it is Sunday...i'm not sure that everything will be open. It would be no problem for us to split up into groups if we have varied interests on Sunday afternoon. We'll just meet up somewhere at like 6:00...have a drink and dinner on the river, then those who want to do the Ghost Tour can go do that while the rest of us chill. As for me, I'd like to do the history thing. I've been to SA many, many times and have never seen the missions (other than Alamo)! Here's the Trip Advisor list of things to do. Very helpful. :thumbs_down::cursing::cursing:

It's Omnipaque. My doctor uses it regularly without complication. I have my band filled with it and have never had any leakage problem after my first fill (which leaked). Hadar Spivak is my doctor and has done thousands of lab band procedures, if you'd like to put your doctor in touch with him.

Our systems all want to adapt and grow, and want to stay the same. That's why, when we try to make too aggressive changes, our system tries to maintain the status quo by swinging in the opposite direction. This is one of the reasons, for instance, why strict diets don't work. Telling yourself never to let chocolate pass your lips brings on an instantaneous intense desire for ten pounds of chocolate as your system struggles to keep the comfort of the way it's always been. That's where "one day at a time" comes in. It's gentle enough not to kick in the "man the battle stations, something big is trying to force us into being different" part of ourselves. But it does move us into action. We're not just sitting around doing nothing. We're doing it—today. However, one day at a time is not an excuse to do it once and then forget it. It requires us signing on again the next day. And then the next. -- M.J. Ryan Professional Thinking Partners www.mj-ryan.com

I'm a big M.J. Ryan fan...she's an author, life coach, and professional motivator! I subscribe to her daily motivational emails and this was today's. I liked it and thought you might too. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Our systems all want to adapt and grow, and want to stay the same. That's why, when we try to make too aggressive changes, our system tries to maintain the status quo by swinging in the opposite direction. This is one of the reasons, for instance, why strict diets don't work. Telling yourself never to let chocolate pass your lips brings on an instantaneous intense desire for ten pounds of chocolate as your system struggles to keep the comfort of the way it's always been. That's where "one day at a time" comes in. It's gentle enough not to kick in the "man the battle stations, something big is trying to force us into being different" part of ourselves. But it does move us into action. We're not just sitting around doing nothing. We're doing it—today. However, one day at a time is not an excuse to do it once and then forget it. It requires us signing on again the next day. And then the next. -- M.J. Ryan Professional Thinking Partners www.mj-ryan.com

uH.... well, here's a tip for ya: If you run out of ritas (or water or anything else for that matter), you can ask other floaters (guys) for a beverage....but they will most likely ask you to show 'em your titties!! (no kidding). I just tend to make sure I have PLENTY to drink in my ice chest....or go without! But hey, Michelle, this might just be your ticket!!

Oh, and you see that picture of the hundreds of people in toobs all over the river? Those ARE your lifeguards! If anyone ever gets into any kind of trouble at all there are all those able-bodied young guns to help out. And they do!

ABSOLUTELY!! The river companies have special toobs you can rent that have the ice chest in them already. No way you can float w/o an ice chest!! I'm just trying to figure out how to float without BEER!?! Having a hard time wrapping my head around toobin' with .... Cosmopolitans?! LOL This is seriously cracking me up! Comparing parasailing to toobing on the Guadalupe River!!! LOL :glare::Dancing_biggrin: Don't I wish!! Toobing is safer than riding your bicycle, I'm sure! Not to mention a motorcycle, KAT!!

Say hello to your new little friend!.... your port!

DUH!! Why didn't I think of that??! I've got at least 5-6 beach towels!! I'll bring mine, too. What a dummy. I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. I've got chillin' down to a fine science!

It doesn't work that way here in S. Texas!! We have to dig up the bulbs every year and put them in the refrigerator until November! Needless to say, you don't see a lot of tulips and daffodils in this neck of the woods. Michelle, that breaks my heart. I'm so sorry!!! I hate hearing that ... my son was one step away from getting checked into residential treatment until I heard one too many horror stories. Actually it was a message board (link) that 'saved' him. The message board was full of residential treatment 'alumni' who were there to offer opinions of the various centers, along with opinions as to the variety of alternatives available. I had a few of the people tell me to just give him a thorough psychiatric evaluation....so that's what we did instead of sending him off....and it literally saved his life. He is a very healthy honor roll senior now, getting ready for college, does not do drugs or alcohol, has a job, and always (without fail) makes curfew. Please encourage them to get a psych evaluation before sending her off. It's important to take that step first. If she's an internet person, please also encourage her to get educated about the 'troubled teen industry'.... it's not as it seems. G'day all!!!

Kat, it's not recommended to tie your tubes together...especially in large numbers. What we do is just kind of latch your foot onto the tube next to you, or hang on with your hand to their foot...something like that. It's usually not an issue at all. Oh....another thing you'll want to bring (IF you're going toobin') is to bring a beach towel. It's best to have it to drape over the toob where your arms rest because those black rubber things get hot as HELL!

Thanks for all the nanners and stuff,girls....ya'll are so sweet! ....and patient! We'll see what the scale says tomorrow! Laura, I don't know what they'd have to promise me to make me move again. That is just WRONG. TracyK - so why did you have to go to the doctor today?? Odd. I don't think I told you guys that I scheduled my plastic surgery for July 3rd. I'm only going to get my eyelids done....and a little botox. Maybe when I'm richer I'll do the rest. Anyway, looking forward to that day!

Here's some info about the river and how they control the flow....and the current conditions (in red). We haven't had much rain this Spring (yet).... so things are pretty mild: GuadalupeRiver Flows Flows above 550 cfs may be unsafe for parts of the river. Consult an outfitter. Flows between 350 to 550 cfs are above average, and should only be tubed by experienced people. Even then, great caution should be exercised at all rapid areas and you may need to walk around them. For these levels, we suggest you consult an outfitter for the area you'll be tubing. Flows between 250 to 350 cfs are optimum. There will be fewer shallow rocks to hit your rear on, which is a major plus. [TODAY the river is flowing at 132 cfs] Flows from 150 to 250 are low, but you can still tube. Some parts of the lower Guadalupe may require getting out of the tube and walking across a shallow rock shelf, but the river is still fun. Though manly men generally refuse the "bottom tube", when the water gets below 200 CFS you may wish you'd considered it. Below 150 cfs release rate, and you will have to walk short distances where the water gets too shallow. Do the Flows Change Often? Yes! The dam's main purpose is flood control, and therefore rain up river can mean fluctuating release rates. If there's been heavy rain recently, make sure you call ahead as the flow can change at any time. Predicting the Flows When the river is at conservation levels, it is under the control of the Guadalupe / Blanco River Authority. Above 909', it is in flood control level, and under the control of the US Army Corps of Engineers. Therefore, noting the level of Canyon Lake itself is helpful in this exercise. When the lake is at 908.9 feet or less it is in conservation mode. Releases will be very low. At the normal level of 909', expect a great tubing trip. [TODAY the lake is at 908.78] When the lake rises past 909', expect quick releases from the Army. These may happen with little notice, so consult an outfitter if recent up river rains have been heavy. Remember it's the rain *above* the dam that's relevant, where it will feed into the river. The Army seeks to keep the lake around conservation levels, as is the mission of the Canyon Lake. The other caveat to this is that the Corps of Engineers wants to work with the water sports industry, and therefore changes their normal flood control release procedure between April and August. So instead of releasing a torrent of water to keep the lake within a tight regulation, they release it slower so we can be tubing!