Well Happy early birthday to you too Sandy just in case I miss it! Is Zinnia, Semper, Mike, or Floyd around to say Happy Birthday to too? Doesn't matter if I am early or late with birthday wishes ;) I'm glad to be back and missed quite a few of you. Here's why I'm back- to suck all of your pretty little brains of their essence. I'll be starting a new concrete Neoprene coated pond sometime this summer and no sense me screwing up with filtration systems and such when I have all of you! I've got the brick selected and delivered to the site, the limestone sills selected, and have an idea in my head for the basic dimensions and style but that's about it. And yes, there will be a bottom drain and no... no rocks on the bottom of the pond (couldn't resist). I'm going to have to pull something together before September. Idealistically, I'd like this pond up and running by next spring. It's my birthday present to myself... using my husband's check book.

Folks, we missed a few birthdays! - Pondboi! Pondboi, are you still visiting the forum? Happy belated b'day friend! - Mike from Illinois! Our much appreciated all-around helper with pond construction etc etc. Mike, you too, belated but no less warm wishes for all the best this coming year! Also, Adrea's (Isis) birthday is coming up the 30th, so, girl, we might as well include you in our waves of cyber hugs and kisses. This cake is for all three of you! The picture is a bit fuzzy but it's the best I could do with this very, very special cake. Btw, if I missed anybosy else's birthday, that's because I don't know everybody's, and life has been too busy for me to extend the list... but feel heartily congratulated as well! :) Mary

Thanks so much for the birthday wishes -- it was a really wonderful birthday weekend. It started at a company party with a surprise birthday gift of a replacement of a ring that was lost (probably stolen) at the accident scene. Then a surprise birthday party last evening at The Vineyard on the outskirts of San Antonio, which was beautiful, the food outstanding, superb service and even the parking lot had some type of reflective glass pieces at night which was a perfect ending to a wonderful evening. The party was thrown by my daughter and god daughter and her husband. Friends and family came in from out of town and it was great fun. Then this morning they hosted a brunch at Mi Terra. Gina, I still have a few hurdles to get over due to the accident, but the main thing is that I am slowly getting over them, maybe not very gracefully, but over them! I am promised pictures of the party and when I get them I will post them. Thanks again for the b-day wishes. Brenda

I was one of the lucky ones that got to meet Dottie in person. She was a RIOT for sure. Loved her stories. :) here is one: Dottie's Bathcapade Sat, Jun 10, 2000 : I have a nice big tub but no shower. Now usually I sit on the side of the tub and take a sponge bath but I had a hankering for an old fashioned sit down in the tub bath and figured since both of my GS's are here, if I got stuck they could pull me out. Wrong again! Now I know why I didn't post to the one about your most embarrassing moment...it was because it hadn't happened yet...until today. I managed to get down in the tub by sitting on the end and sliding down into it. Then I threw a towel over me and called David in to pull the lever up to hold the water in and turn the water on. Okay, the tub gets full so I yell and he comes back and turns the water off for me. I soak, and soak and scrub and scrub and I smell so nice and squeaky clean so I yell for David, throw a towel across me and he comes in and lets the water out for me. I'm all set now, right? but wait, I can't get out of the tub. So, I call David back in and ask if he thinks he can pull me up. Says he can IF I can brace my feet and push. I couldn't. The tub was too wet. All I did was slide my butt around and fart. Then I get both of the boys in there but Shane was about as much use as the puddle of water squishing around under my butt. Next, I had David pull 18 towels out of the cabinet and sit them side by side down the tub in two rows thinking I could push my feet on them and get some leverage. That didn't work either. All it did was get all of the towels wet because the faucet drips. I ask David if it would embarrass him to see me naked and he said not as much as it would to have the fire department come out here (which I had already mentioned). So, I throw off the towel, he closes his eyes and tries again. No luck again. So, I have no choice but to call 911. Neither of the boys would do it because they were laughing too hard so I had them stretch the phone into the bathroom and I did it myself. Here come the sirens and there I sit with a towel draped over my lucious bod. I don't want to hear any more complaining and how you look in a bathing suit because no matter how bad it is, it can't be any worse than me sitting in the tub with NOTHING but a towel draped over me which I already know is going to have to come off. Here comes three guys walking in the bathroom, three of which are total strangers to me, and the first one says, "Okay, just what is the problem? Are you stuck in the tub or just can't get out?" I said, "I have heart problems and can't lift my own weight and the boys aren't strong enough to pull me up". He says, "That's no problem. If we can get you stood up and out of the tub, can you walk?" Walk? I could run and hide in the closet if I could get out of the tub!! So, one gets ahold under one arm and the other gets ahold of my other hand and ZIP, there I am standing stark naked in the bathtub. I rather testily said, "I can get out by myself but thank you for helping me". He just grinned and said, "well, we'll wait out in the hallway in case you're too weak to walk or anything". Now, all of my towels are wet, they had removed my clothing from the bathroom floor so I have to wrap a wet towel around me and show up in the hallway before they'll leave. They leave and here comes the landlady..."What's the matter? I saw an amublance down here". I said, "Are you sure you really want to know?" and she said she did so I told her. After she quit rolling around on the floor and telling me I should have called her so she could bring down her camcorder and we could have won $10,000 on Worlds Funniest Home Video's, she called her MIL who actually owns the place and told her she needed to get a shower hookup in here for me and ASAP. Said it would be installed by next weekend. In the meantime, if I absolutely HAVE to sit down in the tub again, call her and her hubby and they'll rescue me. I told her she'd better get a good whiff of me while I still smell like I just took a bath because I won't be taking another one until the shower is installed. She sniffed and left. Now it's just me and the boys and everytime I look at them, they look at each other and snort trying not to laugh. They're smarter than I thought! Dottie