Good morning all!

Yeeehaawww!!! I got to spend yesterday with our fabulous BJ, and her parents, aunt, and family friends. Ladies--she is truely a magnificent lady. There is no other word to describe her. Not only is she drop dead gorgeous, but she is beautiful on the inside as well. We laughed until my face hurt, and then we just laughed some more. (There was this one drunk-on-her-arse chick that we got to watching, and we were just howling!) I don't have the words to say how much I love her, and how honored I am to be included with her family at the BBQ. (((((((((BJ))))))))))

It was, unfortunately, a cold (as far as us natives are concerned) day yesterday, and at one point, I would have given 10 bucks for a pair of sox. I had found a cute little silk shift (yellow, with burgundy and green--sounds horrible, but actually cute), and a pair of yelloish sandels with kitten heels to wear. Heck, no! I was in a pair of khakis, a long-sleeved shirt, and GoreTex windbreaker, and still cold. There was one lady there that had a mink vest on, and a pair of gloves. (Smart move o nthe gloves!!) BJ looked great--she had on a cute pair of jeans that looked great, and a pale green (not really a sweatshrit, more of a french terrycloth) shirt. Her hair is just so thick, too.

Be back--server's going daown

all right--no email, but what the heck!

Anyhoo...her hair is soooo thick and pretty! And add that that her smile, and wowza! Whatta stunning dame! :):):)

I do have to add that we weren't actually at the Derby. BJ was at Keeneland (a track in Lexington, KY), and I was with my much better half in Indy messing with jewelry. It poured all day on Saturday, so it was a good thing--I'd have been p!ssed if my gorgeous (flutter, flutter my eyelashes) hat got wet. (Wait until you see the pics, btw!)

Ala-in-all, a wonderful weekend--I'm just sorry that it's over--

But, fingers crossed, we leave on the 14th to go to Canada--

Hope all is well--

Hugs,

Maddie

(((((((((((((((((Maddie & BJ)))))))))))))))), so glad you had fun. I just know that we will get to see pictures soon.

Hope everyone has a great MONDAY!!! I was a good girl this weekend; however, the scale gods were not looking good this morning. I need to give another peek in a few days. Also need to find a Weight Watchers meeting to attend, as we did not get 15 members here at work, so there's no support for me right now....except for my buddies here! Hey, I guess that's better than a WW meeting, huh? Who else knows more about me that you guys! LOL

Raeanne, I did all my laundry on Saturday, after a 50-minute walk around the lake. I was exhausted, but it was great getting up yesterday morning and not having to worry about it.

My home computer was infected with a W32 worm yesterday. Thank God for my BIL who walked me through a fix over the phone. Just took about 2 hours of my precious day off, but it was worth it. :0)

Jen, check in with news on the girls.

As a matter of fact, let's hear from all of you this week! GRETCHEN, AMY, JOANNE, BESH, KY SUSIE, PATTI & DAVE, NH SUZANNE, RAEANNE, BJ, MADDIE, JOHN, SUSIE Q, MARCI, ZIG !!!!!! Just a little "hello" would do.

Take care, eat healthy, and NEVER NEVER GIVE UP!!
DeeMarie

I am so jealous, but so happy for Maddie and BJ. Sounds like they had a blast - can't wait to hear BJ's side of the story LOL.

DeeMarie - I don't know if you read that I got heard from Zig about 2 weeks ago. She is going to try and make our French Lick trip and of course she said to say HI to everyone here.

Maddie - can't wait to see that hat. Should hats be required at French Lick??? LOL

DeeMarie - I probably did "got heard from Zig" but I meant to say "I heard from Zig"...

Raeanne, I undersood you...how wierd is THAT?! LOL

OMG, I have to lose 60 more pounds AND find a hat by April of 2005? The pressure, the pressure LOL

Raeanne--I understood you, too! LOL!!

Dee--heck--I have 40 pounds to lose, need a b00b job, want a Lexus, AND need another hat--all in 11 months!! LOL!!

hello!

Hello Ladies & John,

Girls update: Erica was doing great the whole month of April. She came down with another sore throat on Saturday. With a fever I might add. We had seen the ENT doc on last Wednesday and since she was doing so well, decided to wait awhile. Well, the while is up. We go back to the ENT on next Monday to talk getting the adnoids and tonsils out. We also found out Wednesday from the pediatrician that he was sending us to the ENT doc because Tara was going to have to have tubes put in her ears. Well, they couldn't get us in till May 26th. Well, to make a long story short, I called them today on Erica and talked to his nurse. She said to come in next Monday and we will talk surgery. So, I explained to her about Tara and said I would really like to have both girls surgery on the same day. So, they are seeing Tara next Monday too. They tentatively have both girls scheduled for surgery on May 28th. Please say some prayers.

Maddie & BJ, sounds like you had a great time.

Amy & Patti, How are you two doing? I haven't read from you in awhile.

Deemarie, thats to bad about the weight watchers meeting. I switched over to South Beach and am trying to do some of both.

Better run!

Jen

[[[[[[[[[[[ERICA & TARA]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]

We need lots more people to check in here! Don't make me call BJ to bring you all out!!

D

Hi all!

I was going to check in earlier, but I've been too busy being incredulous at the ""new"" employee handbook that was passed out earlier. OMG. I tell ya--give some people a taste of money and power, and they go apesh!t. Sheech! Oh--and at a jab directed at me, one paragraph says that we can not work for compensation or own our own business on our own time. Oh--and sick time can not be taken for sick pets or for members outside our immediate household. (Mom and dad live separately from me; as does other co-worker's parents/family.) I feel like a little kid--lying to my parents to try to do something--but lie it will be.

Jen--((((((((hugs!!!!))))) I hope your cuties get to feeling better!!!

Yeah--where is everyone? Out enjoying this weather??

Hope all is well!

Hugs,

Maddie

I am here and checking in but I am swamped. I had a great trip to Virginia and just back in the office today and it's DEADLINE WEEK. OMG, I am so busy and stressed. I am going to fall $5,000 short of my goal :( oh well. Maybe I can make some of it up with remnant but not that much.

Jen, hugs to you and yours. I know everything will be fine because we are all saying prayers and sending positive thoughts your way.

I want to hear all about the Derby time.........where is BJ??? Maddie, it sounds like you two had quite the blast.

I will report more on my trip but I have to go back to work

Oh yes, my computer has another virus!!!! I can't understand how that happened again. I have all the latest protection and a firewall!
Some one is out to get me.

Jen - ((((((HUGS))))) to you and the girls. I will keep all of you in my thoughts and prayers.

NH Suzanne - Glad you had a good trip and don't stress about your deadline goal - they are the cause of you falling short this month (or was that last month?)!!! I am heading to Nina's in Manchester Ctr tomorrow to look for a grad present for DD.

DeeMarie - Your threat to call BJ, worked - I am here LOL. You are sounding so chipper and full of energy - I wish some would rub off on me.

Maddie - I can't wait for the huge celebration we are all going to have the day you walk out of that place for the last time!!! I am sending positive thoughts your way. I am making the sticky chicken today - so I will be thinking of you and LOL all day.

Marci - SPEAK UP, I could barely hear you LOL.

Has anyone heard from Patti - I hope all is well with her and Dave.

I have such a busy week and a lot of running around to do, but I will try to check in often.

Good Morning All,

Raeanne, I wish I were meeting you in Manchester,VT the weather is getting nice. BUT THE BLACK FLIES are awful here. They could carry off the horses there are so many of them.

Maddie, DeeMarie is correct you are so chipper...........what are you on? LOL

Just popped in to say "hi" have to get back to the DEADLINE..........ugh

Good morning all!

Just a second to post as boss is firmly attached to my be-hind.

NHSuzanne--nothing, baby!! Just high on life, and the fact that if I live through this, Rog and I go to Canada for a week on 5/14. :):) No phones, no b!tchy boss, nothing.... ahhhhh..... Actually, I'm tired of me being "down" (for lack of a better word). I need to make myself realize that life is something beautiful to be savored, and that I am so much more than the h3ll that I'm stuck in as far as work goes. I have finally realized that I no longer care, and it's liberating, to say the least. :):)

Raeanne--you do have a stapler handy, don't you???? LOL!!!

Gotta go--

Hugs,

Maddie

PS-where's BJ? Did I tramutize her that much????? :P

Can you hear me now?

good...

Marci - that was a LITTLE better!

Hi, I'm checking in. I've been having back problems since my accident, and it hurts to type. Well, I guess it always does, but it's been worse the last week.

I know we've all said this, but I'd like to say again what a special place this is. Sometimes when I get close to people, I get afraid of being hurt, but I'm not afraid to come here or tell what's on my mind. I trust every single person who posts here, which I think is amazing.

I don't have much to say, but wanted to drop in. Maybe more later.

Amy

Thanks for checking in, Amy. It's good to see that you keep in touch with us. Please remember that we are here to "listen"! Hope your back feels better soon. :O)

MARCI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How ya doin'?????????? I'll bet you are counting the days until school ends. WOW!

Maddie, I hope you have lots of fun in Canada. Make it a special trip and keep your sense of humor about that cr*ppy place where you earn the bucks!

DH and I celebrated our 4-year anniversary yesterday. It was so nice. We both came home from work at about 4:30pm. We exchanged cards and he gave me 4 coral roses (like the 1 he gave me on our first date!). Then we went for a walk, and went to dinner at a nice Chinese/Japanese place. Since the points are so low, I was able to pig out on "non-raw" sushi! When we came out of the restaurant, in the sky was the hugest rainbow I've ever see!! Everyone in the parking lot just stopped and stared...even teenage boys on bikes were moved! We all said we were going to race to the end of it to catch the pot of gold! I thought it was a sign for DH and I that life was good and is going to get better. He laughs at my sentimentality (is that a word?) LMAO!!!!

I'd love to hear from Patti, Gretchen, Joanne, Besh, KY Susie, John, and BJ this week.

Take care, eat healthy, and NEVER NEVER GIVE UP!
DeeMarie

15(not counting today)!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi guys!

Happy aniversary DeeMarie! Sounds VERY romantic and YAY for staying within your points! YAY! YAY! YAY!

Got back from KY on Monday eve, then went to work getting things back in order here. lol.....

The parental units came early yesterday and I have been running them around ever since.

Marci, I will send pics of Maddie and my KY shots---and I'll write more tonight! I wish Maddie and I lived closer to each other. Maddie, let's buy the Wickland Mansion and move in together. The boys can have the attic!!!!!!!----or the carriage house. My dad says the current groundskeepers live in that carriage house out back! SWEET!

SURVIVOR tonight.....!!!!!! I hope Rob AND Amber get the BOOT! I want Rupert or Big Tom to win. Jenna's a slug. yuck. Wait~ let me tell you my REAL feelings about it!

This is a question for our SS golfers. The end of May I am taking lessons and they tell you to bring a 7 and/or 9 iron club. Can anyone tell me a decent brand to get and if they had to have only 1 iron which it would be the 7 or the 9? Maddie, I think you are a golfer, aren't you?

Isn't Joanne a golfer?????

JOHN's a golfer!

DeeMarie - Happy Anniversary! Sounds like you got a keeper there LOL. Very romantic.

BJ - welcome home - we missed you. At least you still have Rupert to root for - I only see the last 20 minutes of each Survivor, but I am hoping that Rupert wins.

Maddie - you must be counting down the days until you leave for Canada.

Marci - I heard you that time LOL. I can relate to that.

NH Suzanne - we have a lot of black flies too. I wanted to do some gardening today, but I don't know if I can stand them that long. I will put lots of clothes and maybe resort to putting on some nasty spray. I hope you got much closer to your deadline goal. It was a beautiful day for Manchester and the drive yesterday, but I wasn't in the mood to shop, got DD a necklace, went for lunch and was out of there.

well, I got fired earlier this morning--I'm at home now, and my jaw hurts from smiling so much--

I'll be back in just a bit

Good Afternoon,

Maddie, are you serious??????????? If not, you aren't upset????????? I would be devastated even though it was a good thing. I would want to be the one to quit!! Tell us the details and I am glad you aren't upset.

Raeanne, I wish I had been able to join you in Manchester.

BJ, we still need details from the KY weekend.

Besh, how is your brother doing?

Amy, good to see you post.

Hello to all I have missed. I am dying to get out and ride but I am still at work!!!!!!!! I rode last night after deadline and it was wonderful. I slept like a log.

Maddie - If you wanna dance I will dance with you and if you need a shoulder, it's here for you. We all know that things happen for a reason and this may have happened so that you can find that perfect job. When you get rid of something, it just makes room for something better to come to you.

Rough draft time, Maddie. I'm so glad you left that place, I could scream. Congratulations are in order here. This is the first day of the rest of your HAPPY life. There's no better motivation to find something you like doing! Cry a little, laugh a lot. BEGIN AGAIN. We love the way you do the things you do!

If you need ANYTHING, you know my number.

OK, Raeanne--I hope you've got your comfortable shoes on, aaannnndddd away we go!!! :) Dance for me my friend--you don't know just how light I feel!

NHSuzanne--yep--the old boot--and this is the happiest I've been in a looong time.

BJ--yep--a draftin' we do go--and a letter to that couple that I met at the BBQ, too! :)

Well, it was an interesting morning, to say the least. I got called into boss's office, and I just knew. She lit into me about something that she told me to do, I did it, and went 20+ steps farther (with her knowledge and permission), and then after she could find the time in her buzy life to review it, she found that she told me wrong. (Now, I am the very first to own up to screwing things up. The very first. And yes, I won't lie and say that I didn't make a mistake--and a stupid one at that. However, the crux of the massive problem was caused by her telling me wrong. I, thank heavens, took detailed notes during our meeting when she told me wrong, and when I pointed it out to her, she siad that I must have misunderstood. Maybe I did--I'll never know.)

So, anyway, she started on this isn't working out, blah, blah, blah... (7 years working for her, and all of a sudden, things aren't working out? Well, then.) So, she tell me to get me things together and to be out by 1pm. Not a problem, so I'm in my office, and I'm shuting down my computer, and the male owner/boss walks in, and tells me how sorry he is that things didn't work out (there's *that* again), and that if he can ever do anything for me, please let him know. So, I thank him, and told him that I had enjoyed my time (yes, I know-- a liar and a hypocrite; I just didn't want to leave on a horrible note--I've got more class than that), and then he asks what I'm doing. I told him I was shutting down my programs on the PC, and shutting the PC down. He started saying something about incrimnating evidence of me on the 'net (WTF is that??) And then he tells me to stop, and I said that I couldn't--I had already clicked the button to shut down (and I had). He then gets beligerent, and yells at me to get away from the computer, and then grabs my hand that I had on the mouse (which *I* bought), and yanks the mouse towards him. I'm looking at him like he's nuts, and asked him if he really thought I would be so low to do anything to the PC. (Now, a lot can be said about me, but I would never, in a million years, ever do anything like that deliberately.) He growled that he wanted me out of there as soon as possible, and I looked that short, arrogent, @sshole-in-sheep's clothing SOB in the eye and told him that not any faster than I wanted out of there. So, i finish packing up my cr@p (and gawd... did i have it), and my 2 girlfriends walked out with me. I am going to miss them.

So, I'm worried what Rog will think, although, he was the first I had called as soon as I got back to my office. I went to the unemployement place (which I will bet you that they will fight me on), and they are closed. So, I go home, and Rog is fine with it. Thanks heavens--I hate to put all of this on him.

Oh, and in retrospect, I think I partially know what happened. The old place where we all came from is shutting down, and my boss told me last week that she had already gotten 7 or 8 resumes. I'll lay odds that she wants to hire one of her buddies from there. And this happened before to one of our account executives that was a brillient CPA. A bud of the male owner became available, and he fired our CPA to make room for this chick. (I do know that's what happened, because my boss told me (the VP and an acct exe.)

So--I am leaving for a Saturday in Memphis with Rog, and yes, we are still going to Canada next week. The trip is paid for, and I'm going to enjoy every d@mned minute of it!!!

Thanks for always listening, and always being there--you guys are great!!!! :):)

And...... all things for a reason!

Hugs,

from a deliriously happy

Maddie

Maddie - I am so happy for you. You sound like a new person and you are going to attract some exciting positive things with your positive attitude. WTG girl!

So Maddie, this IS the first day of the rest of your life.

I second the Happy Mothers Day. To all those special ladies that nurture throughout the year with unconditional love, whether it be a child, animal, mate or friend. Don't forget to do something special for yourself today and everyday.

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY LADIES!!! I LOVE YOU ALL!

Besh

Better late then never--

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY all! And Raeanne said it all for me, too! :):)

Can anyone tell me how to edit my email address for here?

Hugs,

Maddie

Maddie, go to the top of the page and click on Member Services, then go to Edit your Page and Prefernces and then there is something there for e-mail.