Carlene

Again....where do you get this stuff?????? Please provide ONE shred of evidence that any school district teaches such idiocy, or any documentation of a single state removing a child from his/her home because the parents spanked them. There is a HUGE difference between spanking and abuse. If you think it's okay for a parent, in the name of discipline, to beat his/her child black and blue, then I guess you have a point. Otherwise, you are way off base. My DIL is a kindergarten teacher. Most teachers would not dream of "turning in" a parent for spanking. In fact, they wish more parents would spank their kids. Maybe then they would have a little respect for adults in general.

George Clooney (we're distantly related, so there might be a little bit of incest going on there, but for purposes of this thread, I'm going to ignore that) Harrison Ford James Spader

Nor do I, but George Bush wants to INCREASE the number of troops in Iraq. WHY? Saddam Hussein is dead, his government is just as dead, and there is no evidence of WMD. There is no threat to US soil or Americans outside the borders of Iraq. Our presence now is merely propping up one Muslim faction as it dukes it out with the other. It is a religious war, and religious wars are notoriously and historically unwinnable. It's also an area that we have no business sticking our noses into. It would make just about as much sense for us to send troops into Ireland to support the Catholics against the Protestants.

Perhaps this might be of interest... On Feb 24,2001 in Cairo, Secretary of State Colin Powell, speaking of Saddam Hussein, declared, "He has not developed any significant capability with respect to weapons of mass destruction. He is unable to project conventional power against his neighbors." My goodness....he almost made Saddam sound like a harmless pussy cat, didn't he? What happened in the next few months to change the official US position on Iraq? Well...there was the 9/11 attack, of course. Except that even George Bush couldn't figure out a way to tie his arch-enemy, Saddam Hussein, to the bombing of the WTC. Instead, he repeatedly referred to the guilty parties simply as "terrorists" - a label he applied at the same time to Saddam Hussein. Just in case anyone WANTED to assume they were one and the same, which they most certainly were NOT. As EVERYONE knows (or should know), the WTC bombings were master-minded by Osama bin Laden, a Saudi religious zealot who had only one thing in common with George Bush: both of them hated Saddam Hussein. In order to sell the American public on his plan to invade Iraq - a country, by the way, less than the size of California - George Bush (along with his advisors) invented the WMD myth. But all that aside, there is no escaping the fact that no WMD were ever found in Iraq. Not a trace of a single one. And don't think Bush didn't have the every available soldier looking for them, because he did. And obviously, since none were found, our "mission", which was predicated on the presence of these terrible weapons, should have ended right then and there. Instead we're still there. At some point, the White House stopped talking about weapons and started talking "liberation". Now that Saddam Hussein is dead and the Iraqis have (supposedly) elected a new leader, Bush says we're there to keep the peace and transition the new government as it takes over. HA! We're there to salvage what's left of Bush's pride. He will never pull our troops out of Iraq because he doesn't want to be remembered as the president who lost this war. Is that a good enough reason for YOUR sons and daughters to die?

Sorry, wrong terrorist. When Colonel Oliver North defended his government-purchased home security system before a Congressional committee in 1987, he cited threats on his life from Palestinian terrorist Abu Nidal, not Osama bin Laden. Look it up if you don't believe me. The latter was busy fighting the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan at the time. Bin Laden's fervent hatred of the U.S. is said by most sources to date from 1990, when the U.S. stationed troops in his home country of Saudi Arabia in response to Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. And it was not Al Gore who grilled Oliver North during his testimony in 1987. According to the U.S. Senate Web site, North was in fact questioned by committee counsel John Nields, not a senator. Where do you people get this stuff?

Country Western dancing.

I have pink (mauve, actally) Justin ropers. You gotta have jeans and cowboy boots here so you can go boot scootin'! But I like to get all girlified once in a while. Not often, though - just once in a while.

I have pink (mauve, actally) Justin ropers. You gotta have jeans and cowboy boots here so you can g

Yeah, he was quite a hunk, wasn't he? Died of lung cancer, appropriately enough, but still a shame.

I honestly don't think I was ever discriminated against in the work place due to my weight. But when I was in college (the first time) I worked for temp agencies because my schedule might change drastically from one semester to the next. I had just popped into the office one day to turn in my time sheet as a new applicant - a fat girl - was leaving. I wasn't a fat girl at the time, but my mouth almost hit the floor when the counselor turned to me and said, "I hate to see fat girls walk in the door. It's so hard to place them." It had never occurred to me that employers might be biased against overweight people, but I guess the temp agency heard it all the time...."Don't send me any fat girls." I thought to myself, you're so much better off to hire 19 year old hotties who come to work on Monday so hung over they can hardly lift their head off the desk - if they come in at all. Or the 22 year old who spends 4 hours a day in the bathroom retouching her makeup and gossiping with the other 22 year olds, all of whom are looking for Mr. Right, or at least Mr. This-Month's-Rent.

I do not know Maese or Dobson, except by reputation. Yours is the first negative thing I have heard about Dr. Dobson. The only "bad" thing I have heard about Maese is that he doesn't use Huber needles. I e-mailed Inamed about that and they answered very promptly that it was essential to use a non-coring needle. Unfortunately, these are the only two doctors I know of in the D/FW area that will do fills for patients banded in Mexico.

It's really a good idea to check this kind of thing out at www.snopes.com before passing it on via the Internet.

I used to smoke too, so I have been on both sides of this issue. Once smoking was prohibited inside office buildings, the thing I noticed a LOT was how many "smoke breaks" the smokers took. At my last job, the boss was a smoker, so no one complained, but all the non-smokers grumbled about it. The smokers probably worked an average of 45 minutes per day less than the non-smokers. That's about 75 hours a month!

I tried to find out about the Huber needles from someone who used to work for Dr Maese, but she wouldn't say. Dr. Maese is a cardiologist. I don't think he does the surgery - just the fills. Dr. Walter Dobson will do fills for patients banded in Mexico. He is a board certified general surgeon in Grand Prairie. 972-660-3188 or 817-992-5656

Most of the foods I can't eat post-band are carbs, thank goodness: rice, potatoes, bread, pasta, pizza, cookies, cake, etc. The one thing I can still eat a whole bunch of is Cheetos. I love Cheetos. They are not safe in the same house with me, so I don't buy them any more.

Me, too, Missy! I bought my first pair of wedgies when I was 15 and have loved them ever since. I love bright, funky color combinations. One of my all time favorite outfits (anyone remember "Units"?) was lime green and royal purple.

Congrats, Wootsie! You will be sooooooo glad you quit! As for the "sin tax", yes...I believe the poorest people in Texas who smoke now will continue to do so and their kids will be the ones who "pay" the increased tax.

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you....Tres Chic

Tres...e mail me your picture and I will post it for you. carlene_m@sbcglobal.net

Years ago, when I still smoked, my husband, my son and I were at the hospital awaiting the birth of my first grandchild. There was a "non-smoking" waiting room for those who preferred not to inhale our noxious fumes. My DIL's father (himself an ex-smoker), came over to where we were - the SMOKING WAITING ROOM - and started complaining about the smoke! When I pointed out the obvious to him (that there was a waiting area reserved for non-smokers), he said, "But it's full of little kids running all over the place." Moral of this story.....some people are never happy, no matter what.

I watched Snakes on a Plane last night. Dumbest movie of the year, hands down. It had the potential to be a good film, too but the whole snakes-chasing-people-upstairs thing was just too over-the-top. And the "pilot and co-pilot are both dead so you have to talk us down" scenario was too clichéd for words.

Once you pick a Medicare prescription plan, get a copy of their formulary (usually available online) and take that to the doctor's office with you. Sticking to their formulary will save you a bundle. Any of your meds that can be switched to generics will save you a ton, as well. I chose Humana for my MIL and her doctor switched her to all generics, except for Protonix, and the GI doctor gives her a year's worth of samples at a time. My MIL is not poor but she won't take anything that isn't generic, because she doesn't want to pay full freight for her meds. Humana charges a max of $7.00 co-pay for generics.

Wow! That is a LOT of food. I'd say you need another fill ASAP. Edited to add... Just for the sake of comparison, I can eat 4-5 oz of prime rib and NOTHING else at one sitting.

It's 50 degrees here and almost 11 AM. I'm COLD...but I'm going to go out and walk my 3.5 miles anyway. DH is going with me (faint). Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr From deep in the heart of Texas

I can sympathize, Missy, but it's the cold I hate. I also live in Texas (thank God) and I wish I had hot flashes about this time every year. I have low blood pressure and have always hated the cold. Now, with almost 100 pounds of insulation gone, I am miserable if the temperature dips below 70. Last year it was 80 something on New Year's day. Perfect! I think it should be 80 all year round, or at least 75.