GREAT, GREAT, GREAT. HE REMINDS ME OF OUR OLD CAT, FLUFFIE, WHO RULED THE ROOST AROUND HERE FOR MANY YEARS. BUT INSPITE OF HIS ORNERY DISPOSITION HE LOVED CHILDREN. WE MISS HIM. Steve in Baltimore County. Thanks you gave me a boost on a sort of downer day.

What a wonderful note... just makes me want to dance up and down. Y'all are going to be so-o-o happy when that bathroom is all done :) PS - aren't those happy meal calories absolutely shocking! I know some parents who stop by 3 or 4 times a week... and it's no wonder they're a little pudgy. A once-in-a-while treat is one thing, but several times a week??!! Yeah, dinner out can be a pain in the diet. If you can, order side dishes and -if you are lucky- the chef will flavor them up scrumptiously. OTOH, broiled shrimp is less diet-breaking than mashed potatoes with cream, lol. Sometimes, looking wistfully at the waiter will get an "anything with no fat?" meal, that (when I last did it), turned out to be a wonderful risotto, a slice of roast turkey breast wrapped around steamed broccoli, and an assortment of herbed grilled vegs. Frankly, the other diners were envious. Well, whatever you eat, have a good time. Y'all deserve it.

West, I think it's against the law to throw them out, one must pass those tonkas along. (((wink, wink))) Great, well made, aren't they? Gabriell, I saw those when I was trying to figure out what to do with them. It seems like it was last year at some point and I saved the idea and the books just in case I felt like doing it sometime. I'm just sure I learned about it on GardenWeb; most likely on the junk forum. Amazing what people see when they look at objects. Wish I had that gene! I'd even give up 1/2 of my energy gene for it.

Yesterday was bad but today, well, let's just say I had to take drugs. Yesterday Katrina had to start getting her legs wrapped again. Not since the UNA boots have we had to deal with this. I was up early because sis was having a procedure, bladder sling at the surgery center. Sassi had to be taken to the groomer and then Katrina had to go to the wound clinic. I had someone coming to cut the back out of a new cabinet I bought for a big TV a friend had given Neil. I went to the surgery center to see sis before surgery. I had had a bad feeling about this and had urged sis not to do it. Never had this feeling before. I dropped Sassi off with the groomer and then hurried home to fix breakfast for Neil and Katrina. I then get a call saying that the doctor had perforated the bladder and sis was being taken across to the hospital because there might emergency surgery to repair bladder. Neil and I went to check on sis. Those of you that have been here so long know a lot of Katrina's health history and it isn't easy nor is any of it good. We went through the wound care, leg wrapping thing for the better part of a year so this isn't our first Rodeo if you know what I mean. We tried to explain some of the things that didn't work before and it didn't fly with them. We got this " we've been doing this for years and we know what we're doing." Well, Katrina has had health problems since she was born so she knows her body better than anyone with the exception of myself. The doctor asked what surgeries she had had and when she started telling him, she lost him after the first 5. We then had to explain each one and go into depth why the surgery was done. Lord luv a duck, I was exhausted when it was over and was very glad Neil wasn't there. The appointment took 3 hours and by the time I got home and got supper taken care of, picking up Sassi, I just wanted to go to bed but still had to beat the closing time at Kmart to buy those long bath runners so I could make a path from Katrina's bedroom to her bathroom so she could navigate without falling. Her legs are weeping fluids and it runs off by the buckets onto the floors, which are hardwood. Since she has to walk with crutches she slips on wet floors. Sis, spent hours waiting to be taken down for tests to find out if she had to have surgery and ended up having to wait til today because the doctor had left the hospital for the day. This morning I got up early for the utility company to relocate my computer connection. Sis was taken down to have tests, the gutter people came and repaired the gutter. Katrina couldn't wear any of her shoes, I made a hasty trip to shoe stores and brought home a few possibilities for her. While I was out I got a frantic call from my other sis and she said our sis was taken straight from the tests to the operating room. The surgery would be 3 hours. I'm afraid at that point I lost it. By the time I got home, I was in tears, had called my grandson to come to stay with Neil. I took Katrina back to the wound clinic to get her legs wrapped again, and this time the nurse actually listened and tried a new way to wrap. I had taken a calming medication by then and had stopped crying. When I got home, I had found out that sis had made it through the surgery. The sling had to be removed, the bladder and tubes repaired and the surgeon is keeping her til next tuesday and will be sending her home with a cath. My grandson had put the big TV in the new cabinet in the living room and had connected my computer back up. (Every cloud has a silver lining) Katrina treated us to supper and in a few minutes, I'll go to the hospital and check on sis. I'm just plain worn out!