Happy season to each one of you!

And Happy Birthday to TraceyBee and Hejjie! I don't want to pry, Tracey because you maybe would've said something if you wanted to, but I wanted to let you know that I've been thinking of you and Mr. Bee and Sierra.

Get well, yogi!

My sister and mom love your cookbook, Hildy!

Aussie I hope all of your family is safe after the terrible devastation in SE Asia.

Woody have a very safe trip.

Yogi, feel better, OK? Ok!

Just awful news about the tsunamis in SE Asia. My mum has been able to contact most of her family in Sri Lanka, and thankfully they are safe. Most of them live in Colombo so they are okay, but are understandably nervous in case of further tsunamis. The death toll in Sri Lanka alone is now 12,000 and rising. The news reports were showing areas just 25 kms south of Colombo where the major tourist resorts begin, and the devastation is unbelievable. I went back to SL when I was about 25, and stayed at the resorts there - there were some of the most beautiful beaches and scenery I've ever seen. I dug out my photos of that area and showed Mr Aussie so he could see what it looked like before the tsunamis - most of it is now just unrecognisable. This is just a tragedy unlike anything SL has ever experienced, so very sad.

Oh, Aussie Girl, this is such a terrible tragedy. I know people in Thailand working in the resorts who are also devestated. Sad as it is to loose these beautiful beaches and hotels, the loss of human life is almost incomprehensable - it's so appalling. 12,000 people, my God. I am so thankful that your family is safe.

I wonder why there could not be some sort of warning to get people off the beaches. Doesn't it take some time for the water to rise and reach the shore? There is some warning system for tornados that works like that. There's not a lot of warning, but even a little would have helped. I really don't know anything about tsunami, but I certainly hope that some sort of system is developed as a result of this.

Thanks for the well wishes. I'm happy that he flu has finally flown. I went to work today and even exercised a bit. It felt good for my body to run a bit. I'm planning on a good nights sleep to put me right back on track.

Sending loving thoughts to Woodlock. I hope Mississippi is treating you good!

The devastation wrought by those tsunamis is something almost beyond my ability to comprehend. I have a very strong need to help in some way, but of course there's nothing much I can do other than writing a check, which is my current plan. I just wish there was more I could do to help.

I posted in the Palau thread that I hope the Survivor auctions will benefit Victims of Tsunami charities this season instead of E.G. Pediatric AIDS. I know they always do that charity, but for a show like Survivor that makes such a show of tropical islands and their beauty and plays up every minor danger (thunderstorm) that occurs while filming, I think it would be very appropriate to change charities for this season. After seeing the 7-8 videoclips played endlessly yesterday, and hearing the death count rise by at least 10,000 each day so far, I know auction $ for tiki torches won't help much to defray the billions that will be needed, but I really hope Burnett/CBS does it.

My mum has not yet been able to contact her brother, (my uncle Patrick) and his family. They live south of Colombo just a few kms from where the tsunami struck. Chances are that they are okay, but there is no way of knowing as the phone lines are down and the road is just gone. The railway too.

My aunts have been trying to buy food and water for the past 3 days. And of course the biggest threat facing them now, apart from the fear of another tsunami, is the spread of disease. I just wish there was more I could do to help. It's just the saddest thing I've ever seen. Over 68,000 now confirmed dead, including 23,000 in Sri Lanka alone.

I absolutely agree, iME - I think that is a great idea. I just saw on the TV here that a poll asking Aussies whether we should forego our fireworks celebration on New Years Eve, which costs many millions, and donate that money to the relief fund, and it was heartening to see that 94% of people said yes. I hope that is what happens. It would seem obscene to me to have all that money wasted when it could be spent where it is desperately needed.

As for myself, I am going to start collecting as much money as I can, and see if there is any way I can send it directly to my relatives for them to either use it themselves if they need it, or to pass it on to those who do.

Agree with IME, that's a great idea. Beezer posted a list of charities collecting money for Tsunami relief over on the TAR MM thread if anybody is interested.
Aussiegirl, I'm thinking of you and your family. Hope you hear good things about your uncle soonest...


On another topic altogether,

I don't know if you all remember, but a while ago I was looking for suggestions from folks about places that a large group of people could stay for a vacation. My folks are taking our family (19 people, ages 3-17 for kids, along with assorted middle-aged and elderly parental types) on vacation for a week in July. They want to rent a big house (or compound with a couple smaller houses) somewhere, but my Mom is somewhat stymied in her search. Travel agents are unbelievably unhelpful. The Interweb has some good possibilities, but she's worried about buying a pig in a poke. So, having narrowed things down a little, do any of you have any good recommendations for areas such as The Outer Banks, Georgia coast, Florida Keys, or Caribbean islands? I'm looking for places that are not too commercial, have natural beauty and are fairly easy to get to from the Boston area.
I remember that Yogi had a great suggestion, but of course I can't remember where that suggestion was.....

Thanks, Babalu. Sierra is still with us, she's still playing and eating well. I keep thinking I see changes in her - some lack of balance, that kind of thing - and maybe I do, but I could just be imagining things. At any rate, she's still here and making us laugh, and we're treasuring every day.

And, if any of you have any prayers and good thoughts to spare, could you send them Mr. Bee's way? He's been out of work for a very long time, and he's just applied for a job that sounds perfect.

The earthquake/tsunami disaster is just heartbreaking. Every time I open up the NY Times Web page, the number of confirmed dead has grown. I don't even want to think about what the final count will be, especially since there are so many people without food, water, and shelter who will likely succumb to illness during the next few weeks.

The Google homepage has a one-click through to links to agencies that are collecting money for the relief effort.

Hey, good news! I just talked to my mum and she managed to track down her brother last night. He and his family are all okay. She is just so relieved.

Sending lots of good thoughts to Mr Bee, TraceyBee. Hope everything goes really well for him. Let us know how it all goes. And I'm glad to hear that Sierra is doing well.

Hildy, I can't remember what Yogi suggested, but I do recall my own...oh wait, you said not too far from Boston, heh.

I'm so glad to hear news of Sierra, Tracey Bee. Like Babalu, I think of you three often, but I didn't want to bring it up. Babalu, always gracious, asked in just the right way. It's very good news that she is doing well - what a dear creature. I will definitely keep Mr. Bee in my prayers the next few days. A new job is a wonderful way to start the new year. I will keep all appendages crossed for good news.

Speaking of good news, Aussie Girl, the news about your Uncle is great. I'm very happy to hear it. I'm glad we are all contributing to the relief effort. It is a wonderful thing to see both our little Meet Market and the world to come together in this time of need.

Oh, Hildy, I know just the place for Idylling! I'll send you some info if you want it.

Where is our elf?

Yes, please do, Yogi! I would greatly appreciate it.

We were looking on vrbo.com, and were intrigued by a compound on Vieques, but I'm pretty sure that Vieques is the place where the Navy does it's target practice, so maybe not so much with that one.

Hello all!
Aussiegirl I am so glad that your family is ok. I can't imagine what it has been like for you and your mom- Wandering if your uncle is ok. The pictures that have been shown are mindboggling. If there is any other way that we can help, let us know.

Tracybee I'm so glad that Sierra is still around. i've been thinking a lot about her since my own puppy has been sick. Good luck to Mr bee that he gets that job.
Fingers and toes crossed.

Yogi Glad to hear your feeling better. This flu is the pits. So many people are sick right now. I keep dodging people that are coughing, praying I don't get this too.

My puppy went to the doctor Tuesday. He said that her blood count stayed the same. It is at 20. It's good that it didn't go down anymore, but I wish it had gone up some. She is acting more like herself now. Not 100%, but better then she was. The pills she is on make her want to eat all the time. The doctor suggested giving her vegitables to compensate. Have you ever seen a dog that would eat Cauliflower? Pretty funny.

well gonna run for now. I hope everyone has a good night.

Hey Guys!
Okay there is a long story coming so yeah lol. So we left monday morning round 8:30 and everything is going smoothly untill like around 10:30 when we just reached the outskirts of Fort Worth, and then all of a sudden there was like this horrible noise, I would transcribe it too you but I wouldn't know how to spell it haha. So apparently the big pipe thing that runs down from front to back kinda broke off and we were dragging part of it, so we pull over, and I had to leave my cell phone at mom's house so we had no phone so like this lady pulls over (I love you Sammie), and we call a tow guy place, and we get towed to a shop in down town forth worth, so luckily I have family in the area, Arlington which isn't that far away, bad news is, its on my mom's side. So I called my aunt and told her everthing so when she got off work she would pick us up, now by this time it was 11:30 and she doesnt get off untill 5.00 so yay. So we were at the mechanics all day basicly, and the mechanic had to go to a drive shaft shop, I think, and they were working on that but it didnt look like that that one place would be done on monday, so luckily my aunt Denise let us stay there for the night and it was great to see her even though I just saw her on sunday, any ways to make a long story short,[quote from clue]Too late![/qfc], they got the part that they needed and brought it to the mechanic the car was at fixed it around 2:00, and then we drove from there to Mississippi, without any problems except for I wasn't going to make it there before 8 on Tuesday.

Ouch! Bad luck, Woody. I'm sorry.
Teena, I hope puppy is doing well! My own puppy (haha, 6 yrs. old and still a puppy) has had a not-so-good Christmas break. But it was his own fault! He ate 6 pieces of chocolate, so I had to make him barf (not fun, btw) and then he ate like, 3 cookies a few days ago! I guess I should not set anything that's not in a doggie-proof container on the table. I never expected he could get up there, the little shortleggied brat! Now he won't stop crying because I won't play 'laser pen', his new favorite game.
Geez, Aussie, I'm glad your mum got ahold of your uncle. I'm glad he's safe. It's so depressing to hear about India and all the other countries that were affected. And nw I hear that there's aftershocks, too! It's just terrible.

So good to hear from you Woodlock. I love your crazy elfin adventures, and I love Sammie too for pulling over and helping you out. I've had my muffler fall off, so I am well acquainted with the LOUD noise it makes while dragging. Though I'm ashamed to say that when it happenned to me, someone had to motion to me from another car because I was listening and sing along to Janis Joplin, so I kept right on driving for several miles, unaware - heh.

I am so sorry to hear that your puppy is still a bit under the weather, Teena. I hope that she is back at 100% soon. And Your dog sounds like a complete character, PiP. My Golden Retriever is just like that - still a puppy at almost 7, still eating all sorts of little odds and ends. But I just love that creature, no matter how badly she behaves. I think she's fabulous.

I'm having a family New Year's Eve. It's a great way to bring in the Year for me, a champagne toast with my guy. I toast you all and wish you a 2005 that is filled with brightness and blessings. And of course, an excellent season of Survivor!

Hey, sweet yogi - Happy New Year to you and the Mr. and the cub!

And the happiest of 2005s to all the other Survivor MMers!

skagirl - I want to hear how your new job is.

woodlock - I want to hear about your Mississippi adventures.

Everyone else - I want to hear about your puppies and your school experiences and the plays you're seeing and everything else.

We're having a quiet, quiet New Year's Eve. We rented a couple of movies and will more than likely be in bed ere midnight.

Our fish keep having baby fishies. We were very excited about the first two, but now there are 9 and we're thinking we're going to start giving them some fishie birth control pills.

See you all next year!

Happy New Year's Eve to all! Good wishes to sick puppies & hubbies & kids & everything.

Lu, my first day isn't until Jan 12, but I went to both of their holiday parties which was great.

Woody, glad you got there in one piece!

Hey guys! Happy New Year! It's 2005 here. You guys are now officially a year behind, heh.

A bit of sad news - my cousin's husband (they have lived here in Australia for many years) lost his brother and two of his nephews in Sri Lanka. His brother had had a stroke recently and the shock of the tsunami brought on a fatal heart attack, and his two nephews were in a temple (Buddhist, I think) on the beach when the waves struck. Very sad.

Yogi my dear, I'm glad you got over that nasty flu. I've been meaning to email you for days now but just haven't had the chance. BTW, I'm having some people over for dinner this weekend, and one of the things I'm making is Bacon on a Stick. I love it, and so does everyone else.

Hildy where is Vieques? I've never heard of it. It doesn't sound like it would be a very quiet and peaceful location.

Hey Teena! I'm so glad your puppy is doing better, mate.

Woody what a hassle of a trip! I'm glad that you have arrived there safely. Keep in touch.

Hey PiP, how are you doing in beautiful Oregon?

Babalu you are now mum to 9 fishies? We had a quiet night planned for New Year's Eve too, and it was even more quiet than intended. Mr Aussie fell asleep on the couch a little after 10pm, and I stayed up for awhile watching Little Big Aussie play his Gamecube, but then I fell asleep too. Totally missed midnight.

Hey Ska, good luck on your first day. It's great that you got to go to their party!

I wish for you all a happy and peaceful 2005.

First of all- Happy, Happy New Year to all of you. I wish you all the best in the coming year.
thanks for all the well wishes for my puppy. She is being a skooch tonight, but I love her.

Aussiegirl I'm sorry for your loss. It is incredible how many lives have been lost in the Tsunami. i"m thinking of you my friend.

Skagirl Good luck in your new job. I hope you are very happy there. I have been at my job for 4 months now. Geez, it feels like I just started there. Time sure flys when there is tons of work to do. haha

Woodlock GLad you made it in one piece. Sounds like you had one heck of an adventure though. I hope you will be happy there.

BAbalu Congrats on your new additions! I hope you and the fishies will be happy and well this new year.

PIP Your puppy sounds like a lot of fun. Just like children, you have to watch everything they do, and get into. My first dog at half of a pot roast one time. I've never seen a dog so sick. She never did that again I can tell ya. This puppy I have now is 9, and she is still a baby.

Gonna go for now. Happy new year MMer's!! See you next year

Happy New Year to everyone! You guys truely are the best!! My New Year's resolution is to spend more time...here!
Oregon is doing well, thanks, Aussie. I'm a little bit disapointed that we haven't had any snow yet, but they are saying there is a possiblity on Saturday night and early Sunday morning. I remember last year...snow, ice, snow, ice. I was stuck at the house for 6 days! I was going insane! My neighbors went to Australia (!) this year to avoid the snow, but they aren't missing much.
Hi Babalu! Hope your fishies are well.

Hi to all. Good to see tracey and pinki and teena around. I'm so sorry to hear of your losses, aussie. Have kicked in some money to UNICEF for disaster relief - my plan is to donate more about four months down the line when the rebuilding really starts in earnest, and most people have lost interest. A Minneapolis man who lives in Thailand is trying to raise money over among sports fishermen here to get boats for the commercial fisherment who lost theirs in the tsunami. Pretty good angle. Heh. Also, I heard there are elephants clearing the beaches. It sounds weird, but there's something heartwarming about picturing those mighty pachyderms stomping around dragging logs and debris. Hooray for elephants!

Soon, first work day of the year. Poopy.

Aussie, I'm very sorry to hear your news as well.

It is my first day since the 23rd. A week and a half of going out practically every night and staying up late, and having to be at work at 8:30 this morning? SO not a good combination. I am DEAD. Is this day over yet?

All in all though, the time off was GREAT! Did a lot of going out, reconnecting with old people, and meeting new ones, including this guy I'm supposed to have dinner with later this week, so we'll see! Also met another guy who's as big of a Santa Barbara fanatic as I am, so we're supposed to get together soon to order pizza and have a marathon of old episodes I have on tape. New Years Eve was fun as well...went to this combination NYE/birthday party at a loft in East Harlem with open bar and a DJ...just the right amount of people and mix of friends and people I didn't know. Of course, as mentioned, I am dearly paying for all this now!!!

Hope you're all doing well on this first workweek of the new year...oh, and for my fellow NYCers, we're having a TWoPCon this Saturday at 8:30. Details are here.

Happy New Year to everyone and thank you for my birthday wishes!

AussieGirl, my condolences to you on your sad news resulting from the tsunami disaster. Every day it seems like this horrible situation just gets worse and worse.

On a brighter note, a HUGE thanks to AussieGirl who enabled me to spend much of my Christmas/New Year break watching Survivor Marquesas which I absolutely loved. I'm still mystified as to why the network here chose not to screen it at all. Having already seen All Stars and been introduced to Kathy and Rob M via that series, it was interesting to watch them on their original series. I thought that neither of them seemed to change their behaviours from one series to the other - particularly Mariano who seemed to follow the same strategy in each.

We have also just seen the final episode of TAR5 here (I know, about time, right?), so next item on my to do list is to jump over to the TARCon thread to check out how much fun everyone had when it was originally aired! I had been holding back as I didn't want to be spoilered.

Just like Last Dodo, today is is the first day back at work for me, but it's a good day as I will be spending the rest of the week out of the office on a road trip from Melbourne through to Adelaide and back again via Berri (close to the border of Victoria and South Australia). It's work related so all expenses are paid for and the work portion of it will be minimal. I love road trips - my all time favourite was one I took about four years ago in the US from coast to coast and back again; I'm hoping to duplicate this again sometime, funds permitting of course. In the meantime, it's great to be able to satiate my road trip desire with these smaller, domestic trips.

Confession of the week: the supermarkets here are already stocking Easter Eggs (as from 1 January) and I couldn't resist, I had to buy some. Easter Egg chocolate is my absolute favourite chocolate in the whole wide world, specifically Red Tulip brand, so I always try to stock up from the moment they appear in the shops.

I hope that everyone is safe and well, and enjoying what remains of your holiday!

Pinki where in Oz did your neighbours come to? I'd say with the terrible heatwave we are experiencing, they are probably regretting leaving Oregon, snow or not. It's a very oppressive heat - hope they don't melt!

Hey Teena - explain skooch, please. I've never heard of the word. I'll take a guess - a combination of skittish and pooch? Hee.

Dodo you sure had a good time during the break, by the sounds of it! Good for you, mate. Tell us more about the Santa Barbara fan guy. And hope you survived your first day back at work. Yesterday (Monday) was a holiday here so today was the first day back for many people.

Oh God, Hejjie is a mad chocolate lover like me! Hee! I saw in the paper today that someone reported stores stocking up on Easter Eggs last Friday when it was still 2004! I hope you have a great time on your road trip (and not too much work) and I am so jealous of your US coast to coast road trip! I have only done parts of the US but my dream is to do a coast to coast trip one day. (We did have a MM road trip planned, whatever happened to it, guys)? I'm glad that you enjoyed Marquesas!

suction I think that is a really good idea, to donate to the tsunami victims both now for the immediate relief required and in a few months time when the rebuilding will have started in earnest. I hope that people will remember that this crisis won't be over in just a little while and remember to give as much as they can in the future too. And I saw the TV reports of the elephants clearing the debris. I have fond memories of waking up from a snooze at one of the resorts on the South coast of Sri Lanka, to find an elephant and rider on the beach just metres away! Not something you see every day, and of course I raced out there with my camera. The rider tried to persuade me to have a ride on the elephant but I was quite content to just pat it, thank you. It was just too big. I just found my photos of that a few days ago - that resort, along with others I stayed at, has been totally wiped out.

Got to go to bed, I'm feeling exceptionally tired tonight. Hope you all enjoyed your new year celebrations!

Yeah, well, let's wait and see if he actually calls me because the guy I was supposed to have dinner with? Fake phone number. Which, I mean, I've certainly had that happen to me before, but he was so nice and he was the one who brought up the idea, so honestly, in this instance I was really looking forward to it and completely blindsided. It's just frustrating because I've really been concentrating on trying to be more positive and opening myself up to the possibility that good things can happen, because I realized I really had become too cynical and negative for my own good, and then things like this happen and I just feel like the biggest naive idiot in the world.

You are absolutely not. Don't put this on yourself, TLD, put the garbage squarely in the lap of the asshole who thought this was a good idea. Don't let one jerk, or even a string of jerks, stop you from being all the good things that you are--funny, warm, convivial, trusting. Remember: Being trusting is a good thing. You will get rooked on occasion, but don't let that send you over to the dark side.
Grrr. People suck sometimes.

Yeah Dodo, what Hildy said. You are not a naive idiot. You are kind hearted, warm, funny and generous and a wonderful friend, and everyone here knows that. Keep opening yourself up to positive things happening in your life mate, and they will. Big hugs, mate.

Wow, I want Easter Egg chocolate now, hejjie, though I have no idea what it is. Boy, it sounds delicious! Sees makes lovely chocolate Easter candy.... I wonder if it's for sale yet? But clearly Australia has the corner on the chocolate Easter egg market.

I'm with Hildy and Aussie, Last Dodo - trusting is a good thing. It just hurts a lot when it goes wrong. Don't let the bad ones get you down. We still love you!

And just because it can't be said enough....

Hurray for Elephants!

Hey Guys!

(((Dodo))), don't even go there my friend, he is the ass, not you, Okay? And if need be, the elf is willing to go hunting of the jerk head :).

Man I hate this bed here, I it's so uncomfterble that I don't go to bed untill like 5 or 6 and then wake up around 10ish, which is early for me even when I go to bed at a decent time, i.e. 2.ish haha

Also I'm not really used to trees, gonna suck in the summer what with the humitidy and all, I mean apparently w.f. has bad humitidy acording to some, but there is only like mesquites and a few more trees by creeks and stuff, not wall to wall trees oy, no wonder this town's name is Forest

Here they're trotting out the Valentine's candy, but geez, I could use a Cadbury's Egg right now. I like the caramel or the traditional flavors. Mmmm.

Good Gravy Marie! How can you complain about trees, woodlock?!? Trees are wonderful things. Do you know how much the cost of an apartment in New York goes up if there is a tree in the view? I do confess, I had no idea there was a correlation between humidity and trees, but their probably is as they need water, etc. But I suggest you EMBRACE the trees. Become a tree hugger. Love the tree, leaves, and shade!

I want hot chocolate and a chocolate Easter egg right now.... I can't believe what you started you bad girl, hejjie. We are all going to start trolling the 24 hour store for Easter eggs. Except don't. I just finished Blow Fly, a Kay Scarpetta novel by Patricia Cornwall, and all I can tell you, is do your shopping during the day!

Scary!

Awww, thanks, everyone. And you're right. I'm feeling a lot better now, especially because I had dinner with some friends last night from out of the blue.

Now I'm craving those candy conversation hearts. Anything sweet tart-y like that is candy crack to me.

Hey Guys!

Yogi, no I love trees problem is they don't love me, I have family in east Texas and there are the same type of trees galore there, and when we visited during the summer, I could hardley breath, actually my main concern is I am way to far away from the nearest mall.

Good for you Dodo, and as nice as you are there will be a great guy for you some day, and its funny cause when I worked at Cingular, we had the NYC market and everyone went on saying how bad new york was, I personally never had a problem with New York, Jersey or the Philly area, now Miami on the other hand... haha. Oh and I think for the most part everyone in Kentucky spends most there time drinkin'.

Sing it, sister! I read an article about those elephants helping out in Thailand - turns out they were the same elephants used in the movie Alexander. I didn't see the movie, my tolerance for bad history being very low, but I understand the elephants were the best thing about it. Anyway, yay, elephants!

Dodo, I'm glad you're feeling better, don't waste another second thinking about that schmuck. He'll get his someday. What a rotten thing to do.

Oooh, suction, you had to go and mention Cadbury's eggs, didn't you? I love them all, but the caramel ones especially.

Can the Australian contingent explain the "Easter Egg chocolate" reference? Is that some special kind of treat you have down there, or is it the same kind of egg-shaped chocolate candies that we get in North America? Although you probably have better chocolate than we do, almost everyone does (See's candies exempt from this statement, of course, those things are delicious; we used to get chocolate buttercream eggs for Easter when I was a girl).

Hello all!
Just wanted to pop in and see how everyone is doing.
Aussiegirl Skootch means Looking for trouble. Which is exactly what the puppy dog was doing the night I wrote that. I like your interpretation too, she is a pooch and skitish. haha.

Last Dodo What a Jerk! I can't believe you got fake digits. I'm glad your feeling better about it. All I can say is "His Loss"!

Woody Hang in there. Don't worry about the tree's. You might get a better breeze. (Hey, I rhymed)

EVerybody, stop talking about chocolate. YOur making me hungry. We have Valentine's day candy out already around here too. I'm not a big Valentines' day fan. Probably since I don't have a Valentine. Dodo I'll be your valentine, if you'll be mine. The hell with 'um all. LOLOLOL.

Ok all, gonna go get something to eat. Everyone have a good night.
Pooch is going back to the doctor tomorrow. Keep fingers crossed that her blood count went up this week.

Teena fingers are crossed for the Skootch Pooch!

TraceyBee well, I've never been asked to explain Easter Egg chocolate, so here goes. I'm guessing it's the same as what you have there, chocolate made in egg shapes (different sizes, from very teeny to huge) but it tastes better than normal chocolate. I don't know why, it just does. Perhaps Hejjie can explain that a little better. All I know is that I stockpile loads of them, (the kids think I'm getting them for them, what do they know? Heh.) to last as long as possible. Yum! And then of course, on Easter Sunday, we hide lots of them all around the house and garden (or rather, the Easter Bunny does) and the kids have to go find them. And then they want to eat them all, before brekky!

Woody get another bed, mate! As for trees and humidity Yogi it must be true. There are many, many trees here, and it is very, very humid. But I think there are never enough trees. On Monday we went to this huge lagoon pool complex by the beach, and every bit of shade under the trees was taken up by the many people there. The sun is so hot here you just cannot be out in it, as we found out yet again. All of us got sunburned despite wearing sunscreen. Ouch.

Ugh! I forgot about Valentines, an evil, evil holliday it is, its like saying congradulations, you are alone hahaha, so yeah you know screw you Mr Valentine, I know where I can put your heart hah... sorry.

Valentine's Day-haters (and it's a stupid holiday, I agree completely), check these out, from the folks who gave us the "demotivators" line of posters. Towards the bottom of that page, they list the flavors. Hee!

I'm going on record as saying I LOVE Valentine's day. And it's not because I am married - it was even better pre-marriage. It's a fun day to have a party - remember how fun Valentine's Day parties were in grade school? - I think they are still fun when you are grown up. You could even serve Tracey Bee's cynical sweet hearts - heh. Call it an Anti-Valentine's Day party - heh.

Clearly, we all need to plan any trip to Australia over Easter. Or maybe we need to go to Kentucky because:

The mall thing is indeed an issue, Woodlock. Is there a nearby Wallmart? I understand folks like to hang out in those.

I remember one time back in college there was a group of us that were single, so we had an anti-Valentine's Day party. We each brought the most sappy, saccharine boxes of Valentines we could find--like Care Bears and that sort--and ripped them up while we bitched about life and love. Fun, cathartic, and rather pathetic all at the same time!

So I have just been having the absolute week from hell...besides fake # guy, I had an excruciating time dealing with the brain trust at the post office while trying to get some belated holiday packages mailed, my longterm temp assignment ends today and I don't have my next one sewn up yet, I've had a cold the past two days and feel like crap, and a lot of other little petty gripes that have piled up, but thankfully it seems to be swinging in the other direction. I was telling my hairstylist this last night at my appointment and (I love him) he made sure I had plenty of refills of white wine and knocked $20 off my bill "so something will go right for you this week". And I just got offered a part in a short one-act play in a theater festival the first week of February that I think I'm going to take...the script's nothing to write home about, but it's exposure and hopefully I'll get to work with some good people.

I hope I feel better for our TWoPCon tomorrow...and hope everyone has a great weekend!

Tracey, those hearts rock!

Yogi, luckily there is a wal-mart, but it's one of those freaky ones that close! haha, But still just not the same, I need my over priced college wear dammit!. :)

Dodo, hang in there man, I know that things will start looking better for you!

Once again, my favorite poem:

Dim sum, yum yum!

(And in Australian)

Look Ma, yum cha!

I'm so looking forward to putting myself in a food coma in ....two hours and one minute.... two hours... one hour and fifty-nine minutes...

ETA: Whoo! Dodo, good luck with the TWoPcon! BTW, for you Minneapolitans and persons within driving distance, we're looking to arrange a TAR finale con, and a regular TWoPcon, probably in the next several weeks. Check out the TWoPcon thread for more details.

Yum yum, suctionprints! We've got to get together and do that again sometime since you're such an excellent guide. How was the U.P.? How's your dad? MMers probably don't know that suctionprints and I share quite a fondness for the artist known as Shag.

The Last Dodo - what Hildy and everyone else said. The fault lies not in you, dear one.

We're leaving for a cruise next Saturday - it's our way of pampering Mr. Lu after his horrible year of treatment and stuff. And of getting out of the frigid northland.

TraceyBee - prayers for TomBee, as ordered. Has he heard about the job?

I'm working up the courage to go to an open call tomorrow, Sunday afternoon, at the Harrah's Casino about 15 minutes north of where I live. I'm not sure if it's the local CBS affiliate that will be filming the three minute audition tapes or if it's scouts from LA or what, but they're filming Survivor audition tapes from 10-7.

I've spent the last couple days reviewing the audition tapes of past cast members looking for tips.

Now that I've posted here that I'm thinking of going tomorrow, I really should go so I can report back what it was like, huh?

Walmart is not supposed to close, is it Woodlock?! That's just unnatural. What if you have a need to purchase a new set of towels at 3 AM? Where are you supposed to go? What's this world coming to....

That's my favorite poem, suctionprints! What a fun memory for me of our TC con.

Best of luck, kscativr, if you decide to go. Maybe it's one of those nothing ventured, nothing gained things, and you can just have fun trying? But I hope you make it do get chosen. How fun that would be. Let us know all about if it you do go.

Hey, Babalu, you look kind of like Shaq's Sociable Thief - hehe.

Look Ma, yum cha! Hee, suctionprints! Have fun in your food coma!

Dodomate see, things did start picking up, $20 off and an acting role. Good stuff from here on in.

Woody, Yogi I'd be grateful to have a Walmart even part time, heh! I love Walmart! I could live in one, just like that movie about the pregnant homeless girl having her baby in one, lol.

Yogi are you still in CA? I hope the rain has stopped by now - BTW, is it true that it never rains in CA, it pours? Like here, I'm guessing.

Babalu I hope you have the best time on your cruise! After the year you and Mr Lu have had, you absolutely deserve some relaxation time. Will you still be able to post from aboard ship?

kscatlvr good luck mate, at your audition. Let us know how you go. It'd be really cool to have a TWoPer actually get on the show. Though it may have happened already, I'm thinking of a certain Samina who applied and then disappeared from this board around the time Vanuatu was filming. Who knows? Hope you make it!

Hey Guys!

Yeah Yogi, what is up with that? But luckily there is a supersenter in Philidelphia, which isn't too far away, and it's funny cause I've have talked to people from philidelphia PA and MS heh. Aussie, are there not any Wal-marts in Queensland? Me and my friends used to, when we got bored, went to Wal-mart for the heck of it, and like the few times that I actually went during the day, I was all like where are all the boxes?!

I must have this Dim Sum!

I love that movie, Aussie Girl! Natalie Portman lost her shoes out a hole in the bottom of her boyfriend's car. I don't know why, but I found that amusing.

I don't think we have a Walmart in NYC either. At least there is not one convenient to me. Let's all go to visit Woodlock in Mississippi! Oh wait, his Walmart doesn't stay open all night...

There is a Philadelphia, Mississippi?! How amazing! Do you have any large bells there with cracks in them?

Dim Sum
Yum Yum

Heh As far as I know, Miss Yogi there are no cracked bells, but there are casinos hehe. Please come though I needs company haha.

Oh there was like a tornado in Jackson which isn't that far from here, not for sure how far away it is, but it's like jeez louise I can't escape them haha.