mdrai

I'm tracking flights & costs on Kayak... right now it's like $375 for 1-stop, up to $700 for nonstop!! And Judy, several of my options make the 1 stop in DETROIT! So it'll be awhile before I fill in the spreadsheet... Oh, and I'm tracking both Fri - Mon AND Thurs - Mon rates... so don't count me out completely on a Thurs arrival... we'll just have to wait & see...

Travel safely, Laura!! Deep dark confessions: I'm back from PTA'ing & pedicuring... & in my girly girl talk w/my friend over the bubbling footbaths, it dawned on me... I think I'm having a "mid-life crisis"! Well, "crisis" isn't really the word... more of a mid-life "depression"? "angst"? "upset"?? I'm not upset about DS getting older... it's more about thinking back to me @ that age & that I was so shy & careful & cautious back then and I didn't take chances, go places, do things... lost opportunities, I guess... & now that he's on the cusp of the possibilities of his life... I wish I was, too. This is truly a lot to think about. My friend kept saying, "So what do you want to do? Do it!" and you know... I couldn't think of anything! Or when I did, I immediately discounted it by saying that I don't have the time, or the $$, or that I have too many responsibilities to do something(s) for me. So she said, "If none of that were a problem, then what would you do?"... but I don't know! So I am going to meditate on that for awhile. I just know that just below my happy-go-lucky, responsible, self-less exterior, I harbor a gnawing unease and unhappiness... I also think this is why I always keep myself so busy... because when I pause -- like I did earlier w/the coffee & pedicure, nothing to do or no where to be -- then I feel it & I don't like feeling it. Even right now as I type this... tears are building in my eyes and I feel sad... and I don't want to feel that way. My life is SOOOOO good and I am so blessed & grateful for it... how can I be sad?? So... as I said... mid-life "something".

They're adorable, Tracy!! She looks so happy!! How are you holding up??

Best wishes & lots of Purple Power for you today, Janie!! ((hugs))

Hector?? Oh dear... Thanks for putting it in perspective, Terry!! & Yay on the jewelry orders!! You rock!! TracyK~~ You'll never believe it, but your cookbook box is going in the mail today!! It's right here... packed, sealed & labeled & ready to go!! The dresses will follow in another package (another day, I'm afraid)... but they WILL follow!! Suzie... You're thinking that you're not an angel makes you all the more angelic to me!! BBL...

Today's the Day! Back to School Day! As I kept saying to everyone @ BTS Nite: "Happy New Year!" I am up at this too, too early hour because DS starts High School today & the bus comes @ 6:40am!! As if my melancholy feelings about time flying & him growing up aren't bad enough, now I have to feel them @ 5:45am!! DD begins 5th grade... the last year of ES... sigh... Am I the only one getting older today?? I baked 9 dozen biscotti yesterday... almond ones & chocolate chip ones (that I just completely made up the recipe yesterday! ha!)... for the 2 teachers lounges today. (Our little school has pre-K thru 2 in one building... and then in another town 3 miles away, we have 3rd thru 5th grade in another building... so we have 2 of everything... which makes all my PTA stuff 2x as... uh... fun! yeah, that's it!) We stocked both lounges w/gourmet coffees, snacks, hand lotions, etc., & the final touch will be 2 GINORMOUS cookie jars that we will try to keep filled w/home-baked treats (altho the teachers are like locusts & I'm not sure we can keep up w/them!!)... anyhoo... I'll go over this morning to do that... and then @ 11am I'm meeting my friend @ SB for a lattee & then we have 11:30am pedicure appointments... I'm sure that will make me feel perkier... Make it a great New Year, Vi's!

I wrote personals this morning, & they were witty & pithy & wonderful... and I hit submit & they vanished into cyberspace. Boo Hoo. Now it is the end of another busy day and all I can think of is good night & sweet dreams to all my Vi's...

They are TOO CUTE, Denise!! Darn it... now it's uneven again... 1,301... oh well... goodnight!!!

OK, this should make it an even 1,300 posts... can't go to bed on an uneven number... Good Night!!

Hidey Ho Girlies... Just back from taking my friend out for coffee for her birthday cuz' her family did basically squat for her... and on the drive over to SB... we decided that 'ritas would be much more medicinal for her... so we went downtown to a fun mexican spot & had margies & chips for 3 hours!!... I think this is the first time I've felt this "relaxed" since Gruene... & trust me, I'm no where NEAR as relaxed as that!! But the edge is definitely off... We just drank & bitched abuot unappreciative husbands & children... didn't solve the problems of the world... but felt good to vent & laugh... Getting out of the parking garage was a HOOT... long funny story... but I bet it's just funny to the two of us who were there... Then my friend asks me when the last time I was "falling down drunk"... and she immediately says for her it was back in High School... & I say "May in Texas... I literally fell down... & then laughed and laughed about it..." so she said that she wishes she could be part of our group & that she had a gall bladder surgery scar that she could say was a band surgery scar!! HA HA HA! Ok... off to bed... have to be up early for soccer in the a.m.... & then bake biscotti for 60 staff members for Monday morning!! Smooches!!

I got mine, too -- thank you Janie!! How did you EVER know that I enjoy Starbucks?? :tongue: I will savor every drop. You are so sweet. Thank you!! Judy, I was waiting for Pam to utilize that smilie as well... I specifically saved it for her... those crazy west coast folks...

:tongue: Congratulations, Kat!! What an accomplishment!! You DID IT!! You really & truly did it!!! Hip Hip Hooray! Raise your hand if you're proud of Kat!! :eek:

Good Morning Vi's~~ Congratulations, Terry! How exciting!! Well, everything ended up going fine yesterday & last eve w/the PTA stuff... exhausting, but fine... Today is bts shopping w/dd for a new 1st-day outfit (Lord give me strength) + kid's activities, etc... Make it a good one, Vi's! Hope you get your party in, Judy!!

Oh man Laura, you don't need books -- you've got us!! Your friendly neighborhood know-it-all moms & grandmas!!! Too bad we're so shy & don't like to share info!! Hardy har har!!

Ha ha ha Judy! If only I were a Lesbian President... then you'd have all the bases covered! HA HA!

Good Friday Morn, Vi's~~ I think that's it for now... just good morning... I just sat here for 2 mins w/thoughts flying through my head but none lept out of my fingers... too much on my mind I think... too much to do today... it's Back to School night & as the prez I've got to go prep both buildings this a.m. w/PTA stuff... will check back later...

"Secretly this was just a ploy to keep me from having to fly :wink: " I KNEW it!! :wink2:

I KNOW! Who ever thought I'd use the words "extra" & "ice cream" & "throw away" in the same sentence??? :smile2:

Ok... last post for the day... am leaving in 5 mins to take the neighborhood HS boys to soccer practice... then to the CSA to pick up this week's bounty... then to my friend's house to deliver her CSA stuff... then to pick up dd... then to the soccer picnic... then to dd's pom practice... phew!

I managed to make the whole cake w/out any of the ingredients going into my mouth. This is a MAJOR NSV!! In fact, dd & I even THREW OUT an "EXTRA" piece of ice cream sandwich!! :smile2:

Try Haydee's vinegar trick, Tracy!! Quick! Tell us if it works -- & how lovely your breath smells after!! :smile2:

Such skills!... :smile2: Ok... somehow I have finished the text of the chapter I was editing, so now I am off to the grocery store to purchase the ingredients for an Ice Cream Sandwich Cake (trust me, you do NOT want to know!) for ds's HS soccer team picnic tonight. Good thing I have no appetite, right?? heh heh... bbl...

"Want to"? Yes, of course. I'll take 5, 6, or 7... 14 anyone?? But "able to" is another matter altogether. For me, unfortunately, 3 nights is all I'll be able to swing, timewise. But I know that I will enjoy those 3 nights immensely.. and the 4 days that go w/them!!

Ha ha... Tracy & I posted the same thing @ the same time... only I didn't use the words "poop" or "puke"... I used lovely words like "pamper" and "rest & relax"... (she's new to all this... don't SCARE her with the facts, TRACY!! -- lol!! Let's lull her into it... then the baby can just pop it on her later! Literally! ha ha ha ha ha... I'm cracking myself up... too much legal editing this morning, obviously!!)

Yes! You are staying there w/us! & the babe! This will be wonderful for you... you can sleep & be pampered while we, the babe's doting aunties, quell any crying & just generally take over so you can rest, relax & recuperate!