Since it just got bumped anyway, THANKS!!! to the latecomers. p.s. Kathleen - you've been missed. Come back soon or I'll blow all my snow eastward down 27.

Amy, the lyrics you came up with are sad to me, but thanks for stopping in and sharing them. They sound lonely. Are you lonely over there? What kinds of social activites are you indulging in? Do you still have the home helper to take you out to the stores and galleries? And have you had any new ideas on canvas? I remember you were thinking of painting the small Hawaiian homes and broken down trucks beside them --some local flavor. That was a cool idea. What about your web site ---- ? I know these are a lot of questions, but I am curious about your forward movement. I think about you all the time..... Raeanne~ Geez! How'd the guy's fire start? Having things burn always makes me feel really strange. I really enjoy controlled fire, but fires that destroy are so irreversible. You lose so much of your life's history when a fire takes the things you've worked for and cherished. The photos and memories are virtually lost and there is so much to rebuild. However, speaking from experience, a fire is a time when you find out who your true friends are, so it is an excellent eye-opener for the New Year. I hope the community pulls together for him and shows him the spirit of hope! I've only just read the latest couple of posts, so I'll read more and be back to relax later. All in-laws left yesterday, so we took down the tree, decorations, and will drive them to storage to day. Also, gotta go to the transfer station with all the garbage and recycling. Then, off to the grocery to refill the pantry and get the kids lined up for school to start tomorrow! Whew! Happy New Year!

Thanks everyone. This was a low-key birthday, which is how I like it. No cooking. That was the day before, my daughter made us a mahi mahi stir fry that was very good. She learned how to juggle two woks at once. Last night we went out to sushi, as that is daughter's new food passion. Then we browsed our favorite vintage/hipster clothing store. I've almost stopped buying clothes at regular retail stores; this store provides in retail-speak, an edited eclectic selection at remarkably cheap prices. I bought a like-new cotton-cashmere sweater from Club Monaco (a Ralph Lauren sub-brand) for $8 - hard to beat that, even if the horizontal stripes are not exactly slimming. Call it a challenge. We also poked around Powell's bookstore, where I checked out some books on 1980s BMW sedans. I am getting a slight hankering for a "new" car project, and I've always liked the late 1980s BMW 5-series sedans, the last of the boxy no-nonsense Teutonic Beemers. They are quick, solid, and great bargains as future classics. Plus I'm told a fellow who knows how to work on cars (that's me) and who likes to work on cars (that might or might not still be me) can transplant a V8 motor from a later BMW in place of the stock 220 hp six-cylinder M30 motor. We bought a magazine on 3D printing for my son. Home 3D printers are now as cheap as $500, and that would be a pretty interesting thing for us to play with. My favorite present was a cutting board that has gridlines and measurements for various cuts. Now I can judge exactly how thick to slice for medium dice (1/2"), batonnet (1/4"), julienne (1/8") and fine julienne (1/16") sticks and brunoise. Very useful for the OCD cook. My least favorite present for this b-day will be making an appointment for my first colonoscopy. Oh joy! The pleasures of entering my fifties. Actually I should have done this last year on my 50th b-day, but have been putting it off. The pastime currently occupying us is planning for daughter's impending start of college. She is now receiving her college admission and rejection letters, and we are going through the various dormitory choices and studying credit requirements for different degree programs. At this point she is most seriously considering either Fordham University in Manhattan, McGill University in Montreal, UC San Diego, or the Clark Honors College at University of Oregon. I'm quietly rooting for U of O, it seems perfect to me. The Honors College is a small liberal arts program with just 700 students and their own professors, counselors, building and housing, set in the big campus of a 30,000 student research university. 2 hours from home, far enough for her, not too far for me. It is eminently affordable if you pay in-state tuition. If she wants to get a single room with private bath, to spend five years in school doing multiple majors, to study abroad and take trips, we can do all that and she can still graduate with zero student debt. She likes the campus and the town, and already has some friends who started there last year. So, I hope she picks it. Fingers crossed! We went to the beach last weekend. The Oregon coast is gorgeous. I haven't been for a couple of years. My friend led us in making a huge sandsculpture (a dragon consuming a hilltop city) that, I'm told, made the local TV news. It was very relaxing, and made me think that perhaps I work too much. This post was edited by johnliu on Thu, Mar 27, 14 at 10:32

Hi All LOL Elaine I'm ROTFL - cake in the face on top of chocolate for breakfast - what a delightful day this is! You sure are spoiling me. Thank you all for the wonderful wishes. Urlee the time difference baffle me too. HUGS Look at this delightful gift Elaine made me - lol of course being a little princess I'm worth it dammit!!