I hope you guys don't think I am a real creep after you read this...When I lived in West Ft. Worth, one of my neighbors had two teenagers. Anytime I would work in the front yard the older one (a girl) would come over and stay....forever. She had a bit of a mental disability, but not severe. Her younger brother would ride his bike and scold her when she had been over there forever. I appreciated his efforts and enjoyed when he would come over to visit. Then.....I didn't see him for a long time. When I did, he was in a wheel chair and it was very obvious that he wasn't the same person mentally. I felt horrible for him and visited with him at first when he would wheel his way over. Then one day he asked if he could have a hug. I gave him a hug and he wouldn't let me go until I told him I heard his mother. After this, he started asking whether or not I had a bra on and if he could have a hug...On more than one occasion when I was inside my house, he wheeled over and would sit in front of my house SCREAMING my name. Ya'll I was completely freaked out. The conflicting emotions (anger, fear, sympathy, feeling like a HORRIBLE person) were overwhelming. We did not have an adjoining fence so I immediately went and bought about a dozen photinias (I hate them but I wanted a screen asap). It was like he knew what I was doing and came over and told me they were going to die.... Anyway, the point of this yucky tale is that if I were in a position where there was already a fence there, I would really consider attaching some attractive 6' bamboo screening or something of that sort. There are some really pretty and reasonably priced outdoor screening options these days. I remember while working in the front yard when these kids weren't at my house and always having the creepy feeling that they were watching out of a window. Just made gardening a much less enjoyable activity for me.... I am now BLESSED to live on 20 acres in Granbury. I can just barely see one neighbor's house. It's heaven. I feel your pain, Kristi

Glenda, I rode my bike on New Years Day of course... :) with the local bike club. Yesterday I rode to work, and plan the same for today. I really don't exercise anymore, since I got the job at Home Depot. So much walking is involved, including up and down their ladders... and who needs weight lifting, when you lift mulch, rocks or sand in heavy bags??? On days that I don't work, I usually try to get by the hospital and walk all the way up and back down. Stair stepping is a great work out. For that, I also walk almost a half mile from the parking garage down to the concourse, and all the way over to the high towers to do the stairs, and back of course. Thus, yes, I do exercise. Moni

Like Martin, I regard this forum as an informal book club to which I belong. I also belong to one based in my home town. This is a very education-oriented area. Our public library is the most active for its size in all of California. My own book club has no male members, and I don't think men would enjoy it. We discuss our books, often with surprising rigor, then spend some time laughing, drinking wine, and discussing what is going on in our lives. BTW, we read some nonfiction as well as fiction, though there is a bias in the fiction direction. We also travel together. Once a year we travel to meet an author and discuss his or her book, then spend several days exploring that author's home city. I don't always go, but have a very good time when I do. I suspect there would be very natural grumblings from spouses if we had men in the group traveling with us. Having said that, my husband likes to read. Some of his friends do, others do not. He does discuss books now and then with reading friends. One person from his bicycle-riding groups once proposed that several of them read a certain book, then discuss it. They did, but there was no follow up. I think that book clubs could exist that men would enjoy, but they would be quite different in character from those most women like. Rosefolly

Hi nannygoat, that's strange as I see you listed as a member from the first day! You can't see any of the discussions when you go here? Could you take a screen shot to show me what you see when you click the below link? https://www.goodreads.com/topic/list_group/615019-kt-book-club Did you verify your email address? You can tell by going to the top right and clicking "profile" and then "edit profile." It should say "settings" and click "account" and it will list your email address and say if it's verified or not. Don't worry, you haven't missed out yet :)