Traffic is a mess here at work...they are filming The Sopranos on the corner (in a gas station). Ya think someone's getting whacked? LOL!!!

Had a good weekend, but Easter dinner was just OK. DH and I decided that next year, we will skip DSIL (who has her own large family, complete with grandkids). We hope to spend the day with my sister's family and his daughters. MIL was in rare form...she started out the afternoon telling everyone how sweet I was to help her unload her car. Then at 7pm when I was encouraging DH to pack up to go home, she asked me why? I said "I'm tired". She states; "Why are YOU tired...my daughter did all the work"! LMAO!!!!! Never mind that I came early, prepared a huge antipast'; brought in tables, chairs, washed and dried dishes, fed the 5-year-old, etc., etc...while MIL said on her @ss!!! DH and I howled on the way home. She loves to ask people to sit back down for another cup of coffee at someone ELSE's home!! Remember the guests who would not leave on SNL?

QOD: What's happening this week in your life?

I have some dinner meetings for the nonprofit I volunteer for; other than that, not much other than work.

Later........

Happy Monday (I think)

Swamped all day today and now finally getting a breather!
I was so streesed I ate candy at lunch! What is wrong with me? I have been so good and in one, well two felled swoops I scarfed down two handfuls of Reeses Pieces! I don't even really like them!

Dee, I am glad you can laugh at MIL - what a pain in the @ss. I would not be laughing. LOL

I am preparing an agenda and paperwork for my first meeting as Granite State Carriage Asociation President. It should be a good, productive meeting and I intend to keep it on track!

Any more "after" Easter stories? Mine was very low key, the weather was really awful (cold and windy) and I read a good book!

Hi there,

My Easter was nice. Low key. We went to my nephews house and some of my immediate family was there, so that was nice. DS called while we were there, so he got to talk to everyone. I did ok eating, probably ate a few more carbs than I should have, but I feel ok about everything. I did help DS eat some swedish fish last night, and I don't really like those much either. Suzanne, you are not alone. But you know what, today I just moved on. Not a big deal.

QOD: 3 Lacrosse games, boy scouts and ofcourse work. Same old, same old.

Not much else new. I hope everyone had a nice holiday.

Love, Besh

Hi - hope everyone had a great Easter.

Dee, I am glad too you can laugh at your DMIL. Besh and Suzanne, your Easters sound wonderful.

We had a very nice, very quiet Easter. Today was our first visit to the oncologist and he and his staff were wonderful.
Unfortunately the pathology from Penn, 2 weeks ago, still had not arrived. He is sending my dad for a brain scan and a bone scan this week. Based on the Philly reports and these scans he will decide if a liver biopsy is warranted. We go back to him on the 18th to discuss his options, which aren't many since chemo is the recommended treatment.

My family and I are so grateful for your prayers and thoughts. If you have a spare one please hold it for my dad.

Lacey goes in for her kidney stone surgery Wednesday. What a week!

I will check in but probably not catch up. Have a wonderful week and I will be around.

Love, Donna

(((DONNA))), I'll be thinking of you and your Dad...and Lacey too!

Good morning all,

Donna, (((((HUGS))))) and prayers for your father and family. As I told you one of my best friends is going through this with her father (lung cancer) and all I can do is stand by and watch and pray. I can't imagine what it's like but remember we are all praying for you and yours here.

Besh, you are right, it's important to move on but it's just so stupid. I would have enjoyed eating something else much more than that! It just makes me so mad at myself.

Do you believe we are expecting another sizable snow storm by this Thursday!!! This weather is truly trying my patience. I am truly chomping at the bit to get out and ride and drive. Grrrrrrrr

Dee, are they still making episodes of the Sopranos? I thought it was over? I am so on top of these things!! LOL

I hope you all can find the time to check in today.

[[[[[[[[[[[[[Donna & Family]]]]]]]]]]]]] you guys are still on my prayer list.

I know you have all had this situation. You work with a guy....he's really very sweet, but is dumber than a doorknob. Know the type? I'm about to use one of his projects as a pilot for a new process we are implementing with contracts. My first e:mail to him was 3 sentences and basically instructed him to change the contract payment area to include an address for invoices and a purchase order number must be on the invoice. I've had a visit and a phone call from him. BTW, I think he may be paid more than me. LMAO!!!! Ya gotta keep a sense of humor. At least he doesn't report to me! lol!

Suzanne, there was a huge news situation about 3 weeks ago regarding the Sopranos. They wanted to film the very last scene at a very old, vintage ice-cream parlor in an Italian neighborhood about 10 miles from us. Well, some local group was outraged and wanted to stop them. The owners of the shop were thrilled. They finally got to shoot there, but the point was that it was leaked that it's the very last shot of this long series. We're all thinking lots of 'whacking' is going to happen in that scene. The owners of the place are not talking because the were sworn to secrecy and had to sign papers in blood, I think! Yesterday's shoot was some fill-in stuff for the remaining episodes. Show Biz! lol

OK, I gotta go deal with the whiz kid now.

Later

Hi everyone!

My Easter was nice. DD made it home and we had a nice dinner with my family. My Mom is feeling ok and she goes to the doctor this week to get her sugar checked.
DD and I spent the day together yesterday and did girl stuff (meaning we bought shoes!) and went out to lunch together.

DD just left to go back to school/work, but she will be home in 3 weeks to go to FL with us.

(((Donna))) - Thought and prayers going out to your Dad and your family.

I am off to do a few things and then settle in to watch Idol.

Later,
Marci

Good Wednesday morning all,

It's a beautiful day here in NH and I am going to enjoy it for they are predicting another 10" of snow tomorrow!!!! UGH On top of that there is a prediction of a major Nor'Easter (all rain) starting on Monday. Boy, I hope they are wrong.

Enjoy your day.

I'm glad everyone had a nice Easter. Our's was low-key as well, but very enjoyable.

My sister and BIL made a surprise visit to us on Monday, they are leaving today. It has been a lot of fun spending time with them. We took a long country drive yesterday and had a lot of laughs along the way.

Donna - prayers and positive thoughts are heading to you, your dad and Lacey. Thanks for keeping us up to date.

Suzanne - we are expecting about 6". I just can't believe it.

Dee - DD#2 was at a bar in the Village this past Halloween and she heard a familiar voice behind her. It was James Gandolfini trick or treating with some kids. Her old office was near where he lives and she would see him often on the street. How exciting for that ice cream parlor. I got a kick out of this past episode, Carm mentioned stopping in Glens Falls for pizza (that really is funny since there really isn't one good pizza place there).

Marci - I'm glad your mom is feeling well and bravo on the shoe shopping LOL.

Besh - glad you got to talk to DS while everyone was together.

QOD - Had company Monday - today, need to get out my summer clothes for FL, Friday I am off to Manhattan just for the evening, the rest of the time is either working or working out.

Enjoy your day!

Happy Friday everyone!

I could not get on this site at all yesterday. Did anyone else have trouble?

After an atrocious day here yesterday we only ended up with about 5" of the heavy white stuff. It changed constantly between snow, sleet, rain and back again through the cycle all day! Really wild. We are expecting a Nor'Easter to start on Sunday! OhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhXX////@@@@!!!!

The upside of all this is that we had an extrodinary number of Gold Finch at our feeder here at work yesterday. I swear there were no less than 100 and they stayed all day. Today all the birds are out with them Cardinals, Titmice, Song Sparrows, Chipping Sparrow, Junoc's ....even Red Winged Blackbirds.......there are all visiting. We have such spectacular viewings of birds here at work. So lucky. I starting filling the feeders when I came to work here last year and the rewards have been amazing!

Okay everyone, what are you doing for the weekend?

I couldn't log on yesterday and it was very slow today.

Suzanne - we had exactly the same weather as you yesterday. I also found the same thing with the birds. We had so many junco's I couldn't count them. Last weekend we had the goldfinches. I love to watch them too.

QOD - I am heading to NYC for a very quick visit this afternoon and will be back at work tomorrow - told you it's a quick one. We are expecting a Nor'Easter on Sunday - so I will probably use that time to pack for sunny hot FL hehehe. We leave on Tuesday.

Patti- do you have the same phone #. I will email you my info. I got our itinerary and it looks like we might have some "free" time on either the 22nd or 23rd. If that stays free I will give you a call and see if we can work something out.

Let's hear from MIA's if you can log on.

Hello to all!!!!

((Donna))) My Thoughts are with you and your dad!

Suzanne - wow, you had quite a selection of birds, that must have been a beautiful sight to see.

Easter was nice and low key for us. We did have company but I did not cook, we went to a restaurant and had ribs for Easter...... LOL! I kinda bummed myself out cause I kept remembering back to when I lived in Ohio and had Easter at my house with all the family. Oh well....things change.....

Dee - I can relate to your situation with the co-worker. Sometimes ya just wanna ..whack em up side the head and hope ya jog something into place. LOL!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Lynn

I want to post real quick.

Raeanne~I'll send you our phone # but I bet that you have it.

Donna~ [ [ [ [ H U G S ] ] ] ] for your Dad & Lacey.

Goils~I've got to ask for all the hugs, prayers, positive thoughts, etc. that you have. They just let us know, within 2 weeks time, (they are supposed to give you 30 days notice), that they are going to have Dave's case. He has a new representative that seems to be very positive & seems like he is going in there to help Dave as much as he possibly can. He also told us that he has a paper that was in Dave's file from an AF base that says, "Dave is more likely than not telling the truth due to what was going on in Turkey during that time!" We know that the paper had to have been there all along & that the 6 + other representatives didn't bother to even go through his file. We are ecstatic, nervous, & have all sorts of feelings. This could mean that we could go home to TX & be closer to the grandchildren. Yippee. Patti :)

I am going to post while I can. I have tried several times in the last few days to log on but kept getting timed out. I hope they fix this problem soon.

(((Patti & Dave))) - I will cross my fingers and toes and say a little prayer that you get the decision you want!!! You so deserve a good outcome.

NHSuzanne - We too are expecting snow Sunday night. When will it end?!?! I am worried about my strawberries and other plants that have started growing.

DeeMarie - I don't have to deal with coworkers like you described, but I do have to deal with parents that drive me up a wall sometimes! LOL This job has taught me patience, tolerance and so much more and that has been from dealing with the parents, not the kids!

Raeanne - I hope you have a wonderful time in FL. I am starting to get excited for our trip too. We leave on May 2nd.

MagicKitty - You may miss Ohio but do you miss all this crazy weather?! Send us some sunshine please. LOL Is there anything you miss from this area that I could include in your birthday package? Something you can't find in FL?

I am going to run errands today, put away all my Easter stuff, start getting out my FL clothes (to see what fits!), do laundry and read a good book. Nothing exciting but I am looking forward to a quiet weekend.

Have a good day,
Marci

We are having a picnic here today before the "snowbirds" are leaving for home. I wish they would wait just a few more days. I am so afraid for them that they are going to drive right into the bad weather. Most of them are elderly & it wouldn't be good for them. But, most of them have their minds made up & they won't be changed. LOL I guess I know how that is....I have been accused of that a time or two. Well, just wanted to check in & see what was going on. Please be good to yourselves b/c you deserve it. Patti :)

I havent' been able to log on for days so will post real quick. My dad is undergoing radiation treatments for cancer they found in his brain. He had a bone scan and we are certain it is there as well as the liver. Chemo can't start until the radiation ends on 4/30. We see the oncologist again on 4/18. His spirits are great and he feels good. Thank you for all the prayers and hugs. Also, Lacey came through surgery wonderfully, a huge pointy stone was removed and she is recuping nicely. She even got her teeth cleaned! Thank you again!

((Marci - glad your mom is doing well)).

((Patti and Dave)) thoughts and prayers going out to you!!!

Raeanne - enjoy FL - lucky duck!

I know I missed some and am sorry. Getting ready to run out and get some more errands done.

I will check in (if I can get on this site) and let you know how we are making out.

Take care and enjoy the weekend!!

Donna

Good Sunday morning all,

We are all bracing for a major Nor'Easter here in NH. I think we will get a mix and not all snow. Still, we will have 50 mph winds and won't see the sun until maybe next Thursday!! Ugh...........

I got email (see below) from Sister Tiknanis she has not been able to log onto here for weeks! I have no idea how to help her. At least we know she is okay.

HI!

I have not checked this email address in awhile...

I cannot log into Gardenweb at all. I have tried repeatedly off and on for many weeks. Garden Web staff has been unable to help me either. It's not my computer as I have tried to log on at other locations....

I miss everyone so much!

I know that Patty was asking me to call her. I can't find her phone number and don't have her email addy. Enclosed is my phone number. Would you mind forwarding it to Patty? I would LOVE to talk to you too!

If you know of a way that I can get back on our board, let me know!

(((HUGS)))!!

Tikanas

Hope everyone is having a good day.

Good SUNDAY morning from a very stormy Northern New Jersey. We are expecting the Noreaster with winds about to pick up. The yard is already saturated and the sump pump in the basement is chugging along.

I've started laundry and hope I get enough completed in case we lose power as predicted. I'm not expecting snow, but you never know.

[[[[[[[[[[Donna]]]]]]]]]] Your dad is at the top of my prayer list this week. It's important to remember that the caregivers need to pamper themselves a bit, so don't forget about you or else your dad will sense it. Been there, done that girlfriend. So glad that Lacey came through....sure she'll be a comfort to you.

Raeanne, hope your trip to the City went well. We had lots of wind on Friday so I hope that ride on the Thruway was uneventful.

Guess all of you heard that our NJ governor was in a bad car accident on Friday. Seems he wasnt wearing his seat belt, and the State Police have confirmed that he will receive a ticket. :-) That's a great message for the citizens here. I think they were also protecting future revenue, as I'm sure most of us would have protested any ticket for 'no seat belts'. haha

Suzanne, we had lots of birds in our yard over the last two days. This morning DH and I watched some blue jays sitting on puddles in the yard having a good long drink! I was telling them "drink it all up!"

Must go and attend to the rest of my laundry.

TIKANAS, I wish I could help you. Miss you here but glad that everything is OK.

Patti & Dave, I'm so excited for you, but I don't want to jinx anything by celebrating early. Just know that you are in my prayers that this whole situation gets settled.

Marci, I'm reading an biography of Bill Wilson by Susan Cheever on the advice of a friend. I really love biographies of interesting people, and this one is wonderful. She has written it in the form of a novel. I was so engrossed in it last night that I had to come onto the internet to search on the Wilson House in Vermont so that I could convince myself it was a true story. Nice writing so far. Not sure if you're into biographies but you can borrow it if you'd like (invitation extended to anyone out there!)

Make today count....stay dry!
DeeMarie

NHSuzanne - I feel for you N. Easterners. We are just getting rain and are supposed to get a wintry mix tomorrow, but I don't expect anything serious. Stay warm and dry if you can.

DeeMarie - I did read that about your governer. Glad he's going to be ok.
I just preordered Lean Mean Thirteen from Amazon. I had a $25 gift card burning a hole in my pocket! LOL That sounds like an interesting biography. Maybe we can exchange books after I read LMT. Thanks for the offer.

I wonder if Tikanas has tried signing in under a new name and password. Just a thought.

I just finished going through all my summer clothes and deciding what I want to take to FL. Now I am depressed. I need to start walking again!! I did buy 2 new pairs of shorts yesterday and I can still wear my capris from last year. But I have a HUGE pile of clothes for Good Will.

I am going to use this forum for a minor vent. I went to Macy's yesterday (I have been boycotting that store since they bought out Kaufmann's) and decided to spend a $20 GC that I got for Christmas. I picked out 2 things that were on sale and if I used my Macy's charge, I was supposed to receive an additional 15% off. But the clerk told me that if I was paying with a GC, I wouldn't get the 15% discount. So I told her to ring up one item using the GC and ring up the other item on my Macy's card. Instead, she rang up both items together and applied the GC. Thinking that I didn't want to make a scene, I just used my Macy's charge for the balance and asked her to see if the 15% just might have been applied. She said it wasn't. So I asked her to void the sale and start over and do what I had asked her to do in the first place, ring the items separately. After reringing the first item and trying to apply the GC, she discovered that my GC now had a "0" balance. I suggested that when she voided the sale, the GC dollars had not been reapplied to the GC. She said she didn't think that was the case, but she called over another employee (who knew what she was doing) and they discovered that I was right. So the original clerk tried calling the 1-800 # on the back of the GC and she couldn't get through. I then suggested that maybe she had to dial 9 first to reach an outside #. Turns out I was right. By now I was feeling like I should go behind the register and ring the sale myself! When she finally reached the 1-800 #, it turned out that my $20 will not be reapplied to the GC for 7-10 business days. At this point, I felt there was nothing I could do but quietly seethe, so I bought the two items and put them on my Macy's charge. I then asked for a copy of the voided sale, the clerk's name and employee number and the manager's signature on the voided sale. When I got home, I was still mad (even though I had acted for nicely in the store) and I decided to look more closely at the voided sale. Turns out that I HAD RECEIVED THE 15% OFF the original transaction, thus the sale never should have been voided!!! Thus I never should have temporarily lost my $20! Now I am mad and am debating whether to report the salesclerk or just chalk this up as a lesson learned. If you are still with me (I know it was a long rant - LOL), opinions will be welcome.

Now on to more serious business. Laundry - LOL

Marci

Oh, Marci! What a problem to have! I'm not good at giving advice so I will therefore bow down to my better SS sisters on this one. I always give in. Well, now that isn't the truth. In my later years, I have turned in employees that are not doing their jobs right b/c I turn in employees that are doing an outstanding job as well. I always take the time to do that as they are the ones that never get recognized from the public. See, lol, I guess, I did give a little bit of advice. :)

DeeMarie~We had a yard full of turkeys this a.m. I hate to get excited about it but other than hummingbirds, that is about all that we see around here. I am planting some plants that I hope will bring more hummingbirds around this year. (The management won't allow us to feed the birds here.)

Raeanne~I think that you misunderstood what I wrote. I meant that Dave & I were going before the Board of Veteran's Appeals in St. Petersburg in FL. Remember this long ordeal that started over 7 years ago?

NH Suzanne~I'm so glad that you heard from our friend & sister Tikanis. What a blessing that she E-mailed you.

Donna~OK. The 18th is a big day for us & for you--let's pray that it means good news for both of us. I'm so glad that your furbaby is all right. We sure miss ours.

They said that we were going to have all kinds of storms & rain today. Ha, ha. We had a little rain, not much & then it was over. The sun has been shining ever since. Be good to yourselves b/c you are worth it. Patti :)

I also got an email from Tikanis, but couldn't get on here to tell anyone.

Suzanne - when you get a chance can you send me the email address you have for Tikanis. The one I emailed her on she said that she doesn't check it often - but it was the only one I ever had.

Donna - ((((HUGS)))) for you and dad - I will keep all of you in my thoughts and prayers. I am glad Lacey made out well.

Patti - LOL, yes I thought VA was for Virginia - I should've put 2 and 2 together. I wish you all the best and will keep you in my prayers. I am still hoping we can get together.

Marci - what an ordeal and how frustrated you must feel. When I am in a situation like that I try to think how it will make me feel. A lot of times what seems like the right thing to do (reporting the employee) makes me feel worse afterwards. I had an argument with a cashier that charged me tax on a gift certificate. I said aren't you going to charge tax to the person that uses the gc? They just couldn't get it and I actually ended up paying tax as it was a birthday gift I was picking up on the way to the party LOL.

Dee - We didn't experience any wind and made it there and home quickly. This trip made me a little homesick for NYC and I wished I had a few more days to stay there (that would probably cure my homesickness). We are getting snow and it's not suppose to stop until tomorrow afternoon - should make traveling Tuesday interesting.

Lynn - I felt a little bummed this Easter too. We also went out to eat and I kept thinking back when the kids were small and they had their pretty new dresses and the egg hunts, etc.

I leave Tuesday and if I can't get on tomorrow I want to let everyone know I will miss them. Behave - I will be bad enough for all of you!

Raeanne~Bon vonage. Have a great time & I hope that we can get together. At least give me a call. tee hee You were almost homesick for NYC, huh? LOL Our kids went there for a few days & did lots of the fun things but were happy to be back home in the little town of Big 'D. Where else can you have skyscrapers all over the place & still see as far as the eye will allow? Ha! Ha! They want to move & who knows where they will end up & when. Aubrey's other grandmother doesn't want her being brought up there & she usually gets her way. Oops, that was ugly...wasn't it? Unfortunately, she is going to find out what it finds out to be in my shoes except it is going to be even worse for her. Her DS lives in Iowa & is planning sometime after the baby is born on taking the family to Iraq on a mission trip. Dave & I have both tried to talk him out of it to no avail. I guess that no one could have talked me out of anything that I wanted to do at that age either come to think of it. But, I do feel sorry for other DGM & DGD. I know that they are worried. They hung on Dave & my every word.

Good googly-moogly! Didn't mean to write so long. Sorry 'bout that. Patti :)