What's new Thursday?

Hey y'all!

I got home from work tonight just in time to see the White Sox (a) take the lead 1-0 over Seattle, then (b) blow the lead and lose 2-1 to the Mariners in the 11th inning. Crap! So now I'm watching the Mets and the Mariners, also in extra innings.

I went back to work tonight; relatively easy night, I had two inside pages to do, but one was taken away from me because the A1 editor needed more jump space. So basically had just the one page. Then I proofed just about every page for Alexandria, Lafayette and Shreveport, and a bunch for Monroe ... kept me busy.

We are losing another copy editor ... she is going to be a reporter for Monroe. So we have one person coming in to join us, one leaving, another person possibly joining us, two more people interviewing this week. You would think with all these out-of-work journalist, there would be more people coming in. But I guess the pay scale doesn't interest them. I don't know, it's better than being unemployed.

Well, not much else going on. I started unpacking another box yesterday and took some stuff to the dumpster before work. So much for my fun morning/early afternoon yesterday. Maybe I'll get out to the pool today ... if my finger will quit opening up every time I touch something. That was a really nasty scrape.

So what's new with you?

Wow! What a day it  was on Wednesday…

 I had lunch with a group of fellow breast cancer survivors…twenty of us created the Niagara Breast Cancer Survivors Support group & the Breast Cancer Research & Education Fund twenty years ago just after I was diagnosed…sadly, there are nine of us left…..the rest all died from recurrence.    We ate at the Mandarin....a very popular high-end Chinese buffet here in Canada…and pricy.  Normally one tends then to indulge (to get one’s money’s worth, I suppose).  However, I went for a plate of steamed shrimp and pea pods, a small spoon of button mushrooms and two tiny pieces of chicken the size of a silver dollar each.  Since half of us were seniors (65 yr plus), the manager gave us all the senior rate.   And as the others filled dinner plates up with six or eight kinds of dessert, I treated myself to one very small deep fried wanton sprinkled with sugar & cinnamon…my bad…they all laughed at my tiny dessert but it was such a treat for me and I had no reason to feel guilty! I got home, and checked my email then JB and I went to East Side Mario’s to meet three of his female cousins for dinner…...his treat…one had a birthday…two were from out of town…..we sat for three hours chatting…especially them, recounting old family stories.  One had brought a number of  “books” that I had ordered from Holland…..actually a family tree of JB’s mother’s family…all the way back to the 1600s!  JB is from Amsterdam, Holland and is the family historian….he and his family emigrated to Canada in 1957 when he was 13. For dinner, I’d ordered an appetizer…..baked shrimp w/ feta cheese..and ate three of them before I felt full…after that, I sipped my yummy “virgin” peach drink (pureed peaches & raspberry drink minus the rum and vodka) and brought the rest home in a take out box.  So though I ate out two meals today, I still did rather well…whew! 

In answer to some of the posts from Wednesday,

Margo- I will not be upping the price for my Mandala Colouring Books....in fact, if you wait a month or so, my website will be completed and you will be able to order and download the books for cheaper since I don’t have to print and bind the books anymore! Regarding my new hairdo, I will be having photos taken soon and loaded.  It feels so light and springy…lol….a HUGE different from having butt long thick hair all my life!  Everyone seems to love it except hubby…pppfffttt!! Dial up:  no, I’m not a saint nor patient…..I’m lazy since I can’t get high speed wireless until I clear out my office space so I’m making an appointment for the company to come out mid-August to force myself to get this job done! (I’ve been avoiding it) Wonderful to see so many posting, thank you! Margo-  *hugs for you and Michael*  …I’m so sorry that you have this to deal with now.Laureen-  sincere congrats to you..awesome! 23 years..I’m so impressed.  I know that isn’t easy, especially in the beginning, (since I have a younger sister who is a drug addict and alcoholic and still hasn’t managed to kick it  tho she is now 52)…you’re a very strong, courageous lady!John – great to see you back…sorry about Jordan   …sometimes they just cannot adjustJan – try colouring a mandala…it is scientific fact - working a mandala will lower your blood pressure, slow your heart rate, calm you down, de-stress you.Susan…do you stand on a thick rubber mat while working?  I learned that the hard way in the plant.  It sure helps a lot to alleviate sore legs and back.  Then after work, you can dance the night away with all those millions that you’re making *s*Cassie -  we have also been dealing with record heat and humidity here…where we live, in Niagara, we are surrounded by two Great Lakes, (Lake Ontario and Lake Erie) and the Niagara River…just a few miles from us…so we really feel it…luckily we have A LOT of trees that we planted over 38 years ago when we first bought this property..  and yes, I’m really excited about my artwork!Nancy H – lucky you to grow your own potatoes….we have CLAY and cannot get any veggies that grow under the surface…lol…but clay does grow wonderfully sweet melons and beets.  Connie -  Yes, I donated two feet of hair to “wigs for Kids with Cancer”…also the salon where I went, saves ALL the cut-off hair from their clients and sends it in bags to the Gulf of Mexico…...apparently they use human hair to help absorb the oil!! (note to Susandoeshair) Bev -  How wonderful for you to have grands that want to visit you! After eight years, I’m still waiting for Danny (our older son) & Amy… but Amy has endometriosis and has had surgery, but no babies yet…just five grand KITTIES, most named after power tools.Annette -  always good to see you, lady….I am now blessed with about seven black cats ( my outside total is now 29…..all assorted colours)…..okay..outside cats…..always makes me think of you when they congregate together.

Eileen -  I’ve enjoyed reading about your new adventure in life…happy to see that you’re settling into the groove at work *s*.   Please check www.organicfacts.net to see how HONEY is used in WOUND MANAGEMENT-  honey has wonderful healing properties!

 Thursday:  I get to stay home!! Well okay, until 6 pm when I have a working meeting for Business & Professional Womens Club…the international advocacy group that I've belonged to for the last twenty years…I’m still President of the Niagara Club and also Liason between several other clubs and ours.  We have five boxes of paperwork – old papers/documents from back to 1917!  So we will be sorting and getting it all put on CDs and stored in the local library archives.  Our club is the oldest BPW club in Canada! Okay, I know I’ve taken up SOO much space here… I’m sorry….in a talkative/type-ative mood, I guess.  But I have something  to share with you all:  

HIGH SCHOOL CLASS REUNION OF A 50+ YEAR OLD LADY

I had prepared for it like any intelligent woman would.

I went on a starvation diet the day before, knowing that all the extra weight would just melt off in 24 hours, leaving me with my sleek, trim, high-school-girl body.  The last forty years of careful cellulite collection would just be gone with a snap of a finger.

I knew if I didn't eat a morsel on Friday, that I could probably fit into my senior formal on Saturday.  Trotting up to the attic, I pulled the gown out of the garment bag, carried it lovingly downstairs, ran my hand over the fabric, and hung it on the door.

I stripped naked, looked in the mirror, sighed, and thought, "Well, okay,  maybe if I shift it all to the back ..."  Bodies never have pockets where you need them.

Bravely I took the gown off the hanger, unzipped the shimmering dress and stepped gingerly into it.  I struggled, twisted, turned, and pulled and I got the formal all the way up to my knees ... Before the zipper gave out. I was disappointed.  I wanted to wear that dress with those silver sandals again and dance the night away.

Okay, one setback was not going to spoil my mood for this affair.  No way!  Rolling the dress into a ball and tossing it into the corner, I turned to Plan B:  the black crepe caftan.

I gathered up all the goodies that I had purchased at Saks:  the scented shower gel; the body building and highlighting shampoo and conditioner; the split-end killer and shine enhancer.  Soon my hair would look like that girl's in the Pantene ads.

Then the makeup -- the under eye "ain't no lines here" firming cream, the all-day face-lifting gravity-fighting moisturizer with wrinkle filler spackle; the 'all day kiss me till my lips bleed, and see if this gloss will come off' lipstick, the bronzing face powder for that special glow

But first, the roll-on facial hair remover. I could feel the wrinkles shuddering in fear.

Okay, time to get ready!  I jumped into the steaming shower, soaped, lathered, rinsed, shaved, tweezed, buffed, scrubbed and scoured my body to a tingling pink.

I plastered my freshly scrubbed face with the anti-wrinkle, gravity fighting "your face will look like a baby's posterior" face cream.  I set my hair on hot rollers.

I felt wonderful.  Ready to take on the world.  Or in this instance, my underwear. With the towel firmly wrapped around my glistening body, I pulled out the black lace, tummy-tucking, cellulite-pushing, ham hock-rounding girdle, and the matching "lifting those bosoms like they're filled with helium" bra.

I greased my body with the scented body lotion and began the plunge.  I pulled, stretched, tugged, hiked, folded, tucked, twisted, shimmied, hopped, pushed, wiggled, snapped, shook, caterpillar crawled and kicked.  Sweat poured off my forehead but I was done.  And it didn't look bad.

So I rested.  A well deserved rest, too.

The girdle was on my body.  Bounce a quarter off my behind?  It was tighter than a trampoline.  Can you say, "Rubber baby buggy bumper buns?"  Okay, so I had to take baby steps, and walk sideways, and I couldn't move from my buns to my knees.  But I was firm!

Oh no ... I had to go to the bathroom.  And there wasn't a snap crotch.  From now on, undies gotta have a snap crotch.  I was ready to rip it open and re-stitch the crotch with Velcro, but the pain factor from past experiments was still fresh in my mind.  I quickly sidestepped to the bathroom.

An hour later, I had answered nature's call and repeated the struggle into the girdle.  I was ready for the bra.  I remembered what the saleslady said to do.  I could see her glossed lips mouthing,  "Do not fasten the bra in the front, and twist it around.  Put the bra on the way it should be worn -- straps over the shoulders  Then bend over and gently place both breasts inside the cups."

Easy if you have four hands.  But, with confidence, I put my arms into the holsters, bent over and pulled the bra down ... But the boobs weren't cooperating. I'd no sooner tuck one in a cup, and while placing the other, the first would slip out.  I needed a strategy.  I bounced up and down a few times, tried to dribble them in with short bunny hops, but that didn't work.  So, while bent over, I began rocking gently back and forth on my heel and toes and I set 'em to swinging.  Finally, on the fourth swing, pause, and lift, I captured the gliding glands.  Quickly fastening the back of the bra, I stood up for examination.

Back straight, slightly arched, I turned and faced the mirror, turning front, and then sideways.  I smiled, yes, Houston , we have lift up!

My breasts were high, firm and there was cleavage!  I was happy until I tried to look down.  I had a chin rest  And I couldn't see my feet.  

I still had to put on my pantyhose, and shoes.  Oh ... why did I buy heels with buckles?

Then I had to pee again. ........So I put on my sweats, fixed myself a drink, ordered pizza, and skipped the high school reunion.  

Nancy B

Morning Nancy!

Before I forget, the issue of the hair to help clean up the oil.   In the very beginning they asked salons nation wide to save hair, but it quickly became apparent that we'd NEVER be able to get enough to help, so they told us to quit sending it. Thank goodness, what a PAIN to save trash bags of hair. Yuck.

Gary's off today, he has a lot of sick time built up and wants "a day" as he calls it. All it does is make me resentful that I can never take "a day". Always something....laundry, cleaning, cooking, errands, whatever. Women don't get "days". If I call in sick to work I have to try to find places to put clients where there isn't room for them to begin with, so what's the point? Lordy, I need a vacation!

Physical therapy today, oh boy!

Hope you all have a wonderful day.

BTW, my "Girlfriend's Box of Questions" will arrive today. If I have time tomorrow I'll post the first question, if not, I'll do it as soon as I can

oh nancy i love you! always have!!!!! the reunion story is awesome!
i will wait for the mandalas- i was kidding kiddo!

Good Morning Everyone!

Seems like I have not been here in a year!  

I just got back with my daughter from Florida.  We went with my in-laws and stayed at their condo in Ft Meyers. 

We had a wonderful time, even though my mother in-law would forget her meds and become nasty once in awhile.  My daughter and her got into a heated debate on the way home and I had to tell them both to stop..lol..  Glad it was on the way home!

The highlight was meeting Carla on Friday.  It was great!  Finally I get to see someone who has been writing on here.  We had lunch at applebees and it was terrible.  Oh well, I tried..

Thanks Carla for coming down to see us.  It was really fun.  Hope there is a next time.  Maybe in Dec.

So many things down there I did for the first time.  First time in the ocean, first time since I was a kid, I wore a bathing suit.  WOW... It didn't look too bad!  First time I was away from my husband in more than 30 years.  Maybe longer.  Honestly, I may have missed him a little..lol   But I was having too much fun.  Everytime I called him he was down in the dumps.  I think because he was alone and no one cooked for him.  He told me for two days he ate birthday cake for dinner..lol  Oh well, maybe now he will learn to cook.  I doubt it.

Well I hope everyone has been well the last two weeks.  I have to read to catch up.

Peace

morning all! thursday at the bank- hope it goes quickly!

not much to talk about - or energy to do it!

hugs and prayers............

Morning all...
  Don't know if you all know it but, I'm a single mom ...have been since my girls (twins) were 2.  I have three kids...none of which are home right now...

  So I'm going to toot my own horn today...ITS MY BIRTHDAY !!!! AND I'M 39 AGAIN !!!!!

  I have a hair appointment today..and then aqua class...then Annette and I are going out for awhile.  My kids *I think* are planning something for the week end...

  /anyway...everyone have a great day..keep smiling and prayers and blessings to all..

  You are a great group of people and I thank you for being friends.
  
  Marcy

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MARCY!!!!!  

   

Hugs.....connie d

Thank you Connie...you are a sweet heart !

Hiya Marcy,

Happy Birthday!  I think you are lying about your age, WLS has made me younger and younger. . .  lol

Enjoy!

Hugs, Laureen