Ok, ok..I am givning in! I am on the prowl for either those birds or a couple of green singing finches. Jojo, you just made me realize how much I miss hearing the singing of birds in my home.lol It made winetr go by so much better than the dead silience in my home. I think I know who named those birds..lol. Such cute names that only a kid or two can come up with. I would love for you to raise them along side of us, all the way to the brood, hatchlings, and babies. I would love that Jojo since I have a thing for birds. Just love them and you have yourself such a beauty of a pair! Hi Al, Jodi, Josh, Jodik, and Laura! I missed all while I was sick.;-) Laura. I have been sooooooo sick and now that I have got better nergy, it's time to catch up onmy e-mail. I am sorry about the delay bust just know that I appreciate you and the rest of the bunch here. I am SO BLESSED to have such great friends as you all. Love you all! Mom, says to send a group hug to you all! Mike

In a previous home I had taken several pictures of the kids and furniture and such. Well this was during the early 90s, pre-digital days. Well after the pixs had been developed I couldn't believe what I saw. I don't talk about it much and initially we only shared what happened with our immediate family. It's really creepy for me to even think about it now. But there was a "figure" standing "outside" the window! I am very serious. We later shared the story and the picture with a pastor and his wife and she felt that it was definitely other-worldly, and they asked had we ever felt anything weird inside the house, but I never felt anything weird about the house whatsoever. I too have seen things that are hard to believe and even harder to describe. If anyone is interested in sharing their stories further, I'd be happy to share my stories and picture.

Well, DH (the problem solver) decided that I wasn't going to stand up for myself & called the CEO. He met with me & the Pres. They were not surprised. They told me that I was certainly not the first person to have problems with this woman. I told them that I had planned to talk to her first before going over her head to them. They were very nice & told me that they respected that & wouldn't get involved at this time. They said that if talking with her didn't work & the problem continued to come to them. They also told me that even if they got involved, she wouldn't change fundamentally. She wasn't included, but she knew something was going on because she was very nice to me for a couple of days. They she basically lost it in front of another employee who had come to ask me a question. She was so bad that he just stood there with an astonished look on his face. She needed some paperwork & couldn't find it & was convinced that I had it & just hadn't put it away properly. I told her that I did not have the papers in question & had not seen them. Since this was something a little out of the ordinary & a first time occurence, I would remember it. I'm pretty sure that she took care of this particular issue & the papers were likely on her desk somewhere. It wouldn't be the first time this had happened. She became very angry when I told her I didn't know where it was. They realize that this woman has friction with a lot of people. I've seen her act badly to the plant manager & one of the other VP's, but of course neither of them works for her, so they just ignore it. I had a long meeting with my boss yesterday. I told her that her treating me the way she had been bothered me & was a problem. I gave her several examples. I also told her that I needed to start working more regular hours. I told her that I certainly didn't mind working overtime when needed, but that I could not continue working until 7:30 or later every night and thru lunch. I also explained to her that I believed I was spending more time than she realized answering questions for other staff that relate to customers & trying to facilitate things from our dept. that might be holding up an order. This is not something I'm just doing extra, it's part of my job. I just don't think she realizes how much time it takes. She told me that she realized that she often came across in a bad way. She said she didn't mean to be a witch, but she knows it often sounds that way. She mentioned that this was an issue with the previous person in my job. She also said that she's come a long way from the way she used to be (now that is SCARY!). She also said that until fairly recently, she had never managed people. I feel better now that I've taken the step of talking with her so she realizes there are issues. I don't think it'll actually change things over the long term. I did work very late Tues. night, but she did at least ask if I minded. I took a long lunch on Wed. & left on time. She told me yesterday during our meeting that she wanted to meet with the entire dept. now that we had someone new. She later popped in & said that she had asked the others to meet at lunchtime & that we would order lunch in. This was not a previously scheduled meeting. I told her that DH was going out of town for a couple of days & that I had already planned to have lunch with him because of that. She said that she would have to go ahead & meet with the rest of the dept. I told her that was fine. Normally, even if I'd had lunch plans with DH, I wouldn't have minded changing them for an impromptu meeting. But with him going out of town, I didn't feel that I should cancel them yesterday. They ended up not meeting because one of the ladies didn't get asked before & she also had plans.

Yes, my sweet Copenhagen died just before Christmas. I think the foundering was all intertwined with his other issues. He got shaggy curly hair he didn't lose in the spring, then started losing weight. The vet was certain he had Cushing's disease, but when tested he was negative. The vet then thought perhaps a thyroid issue or other metabolic problem. He got thinner. Then I found him lying in the barnyard and he couldn't get up. I called the vet and for some dumb reason I went to the house and got a quilt to put over him so he wouldn't be cold lying in the snow. So I sat in the snow with his head on my lap and waited for the doc, kissed him and told him that it was all green pastures for him from now on. And then, with the help of Doc Gilbert, he was gone. It still seems empty without him, but when I rescued him I told him he'd be here with me until I died or he did, and so I kept that promise. Cope was 23, and I still have his big dumb friend, King, who was Dad's old buggy horse. He's 26. Sadie is 14, old for a St. Bernard and even Red Cow is 17. Ashley says I run an assisted living facility for old animals! Annie