First up Sunday ...

[Getupngo]

Actually, I'm not the first up. I'm the still up. It's almost 5 a.m. here in beautiful downtown Utah, and I cannot sleep. I stayed up to watch the tsunami fizzle in Hawaii. I've been listening to the dire predictions for Sandy. I got into bed and listened to a podcast. I took a tylenol. I drank water. And now I'm here complaining to you. I'm doing everything BUT sleeping.

Maybe I'll just break out the pot and brew up some vanilla coffee. I could bop over to the grocery store and buy a package of muffins and EAT THEM ALL MYSELF. Then I could drift into a good sugar coma. Whaddya think? (Okay okay. I'll share them. grumble mumble)

But other than this general whining, life is good. All of my problems are luxury problems.

[carolb]

LOL Enjoy hearing from a "west coaster" first thing in the morning. Sorry that ya were having a sleepless night tho Hate when that happens--hope ya get a chance to sleep in this morning. Well, FL peoples were getting hit yesterday, so I hope y'all are ok! Nothing here yet in central NY. Still warm, in the 50s this a.m., so I've had my coffee on the back porch--won't be doing that many more times this year...Red, THANKS so m-ch for sharing abot yore "women's" problem--isn't that one of the great benefits abot this for-m??? Never heard of that cancer! Yes, praying for neg biopsy for ya. I have ins now, yearly physicals are covered, so I'll get on that right away--haven't had a pap in 7 years. Dawn, I KNOW what it's like to be with no ins. Do ya have a "home" state? In NY, I was able to get reasonably priced ins thro-gh the state plans...Hey Soos, nice to have more time with Orion as ya wait o-t this storm. Are ya in western NY now? Will ya be taking I 81 back to FL? Hope yore friend's health gets straightened o-t...Now, who mentioned diamond minds in AL or was it AR? Good place for GTG? Hmmmm Well, y'all have a great day & be safe!

[Colliemom]

Good Morning janice and Carolb,

Yes, it is nice to hear from a "west coaster" in the morning. But sorry to hear that you are having trouble sleeping. Hmmmm, about the only thing you didn't do was sit down to a full course dinner. That always makes people sleepy But tell you what, you can have my share of the muffins if it will help you sleep

Sounds like doom and gloom heading into the east coast today, especially DE,MD and NY. Hope yoo have your hatches battened down Carolb. Even way over here in northern MI, we are supposed to get some effects from Sandy. Been watching the monster waves rolling into the Carolina coast and the storm is way out to sea. Hoping all the preparations that the officials are making are going to work. Guess time will tell.

It's chilly again this morning and will be the story from here on out now. But the sun will be out again today and even though it was only in the mid 40's yesterday, it felt warmer. I'm just about done with my "winter chores" outside. Should finish them up today. Only have a few shrubs left to wrap some burlap aruond and then run a quick check of my gutter system one more time for leaves. After that I don't care what the weather does.

Irmia, glad to hear that you are out of harm's way being down in NC, although you will get wind battered there. It has to be hard though to sit and watcch the forecasts of where Sandy is going to hit and worry about your home and property. Isn't it great to have friends whom I'm sure are trying to get their place ready as well as yours. But that's whay we pay insurance for and truth be told, I would rather be elsewhere anyway.

Well, I hear the church bells ringning (not quite ), so I had better get my act together and head to town. See you all later. Hang in there, those in the path of Sancy. Have a nice day the rest of you.

[Redwahine]

Good morning Janice, Carol, Sue and everyone else. Don't you hate it when the "can't go to sleep" thing happens?? Sometimes I just think our bodies need to reset its circadium rhythm. You should get really good sleep tonight if you are able to resist napping It is not fun to live without insurance. I'm covered under DH's retirement policy. I could have stayed on the policy from the University of Hawaii's retirement, but DH thought it better to move me to his. They have raised the rates so much each year that it is like paying a ransom each month. I haven't checked, but it probably would have been more economical to stay with my own retirement plan. But too late now. I'm stuck with DH's plan.

I'm glad the tsunami in Hawaii fizzled. They usually do. However, the one time you don't take heed to the warnings, you'll be sucked under like in Japan or Indonesia. During my 30 yrs living there I went to high ground for 3 serious threats. We lived right on a beach. During one of the warnings The tsunami was coming from Alaska. I lived on the opposite side of the island and would not be hit hard. The helicopters were flying along the shore line screaming for everyone to go to high ground. I wasn't going to go, but then the kids were getting concerned, so I thought it better to show a good example and followed the officials request to vacate. We grabbed a bunch of stuff and headed to a park on a nearby hillside. it turned out to be an impromptu potluck and party as we watched a small bump of a swell arrive. Any excuse for a party

Boy the east coast is really getting pounded. Hope everyone over there are staying safe and have supplies to last the predicted outages, etc. We were suppose to have rain, but yesterday was beautiful for the air show. Blue skies, sunny and crispy cool. We are leaving shortly to go down for today's air show and see the Blue Angels. Will see Maggie there. She and Mark volunteer each year. Without the volunteers, things like this just wouldn't happen!! This will be my first venture out since I got butchered (biopsy). My stitches aren't as sore, but pull when I move. Ive been wearing nothing but long night gowns But gonna put on a pair of fluffy soft sweat pants and go. DH got these tickets 2 months ago and really looking forward to going !!

I haven't been able to get very much prepared in the rig to get ready for the TX gtg, so it'll probably be paper plates, plastic forks and takeout food I can get on the way. But still going!!!

Everyone have a great day. Stay safe if you're on the road and stay hunkered down if you're in the path of Sandy. Aloha y'all

[asirimarco]

Good Morning to All - Coffee is hot and sun is coming up and heater just came on so will be nice in here soon. Waiting for Bill to get up to fix breakfast. He does great combinations of egg beaters, peppers, onions, and summer sausage. Delicious.
We DID Texas yesterday - that drive across the I-40 is about boring. We are in Tucumcari, NM and will stay here at least today - have to watch the race. And maybe tomorrow.We both like this little town especially the murals and the old Route 66 buildings. Will write about them later in the blog. Then think we'll be heading south either out of Santa Rosa or Albuquerque -- I have a feeling we'll be in Mexico before the middle of Nov.
Haven't turned on the TV yet to see how the East Coast is doing. Sure hope it isn't as bad as all the predicitons.
Stay safe everyone

[cpatinjones]

Good Morning Ladies,

A cool, sunny 45F this morning, but will be warming up to the high 60s. I have been enjoying the cool and sunny days.

Hopefully, our east coast sisters are fairing well with Hurricane Sandy. I know and feel their concerns.

Dog sitting my sisters' dog. She went to New Orleans for a MaDonna concert. I spoke with this morning and she told me that Madonna did not get on stage until 10:30 pm, the concert started at 8:00 pm. They finally sent a DJ out on stage around 9:20 until Madonna decided to come on stage. I told my sister what a rude person. Not only would I not ever attend a concert of hers, I would not purchase a CD from her either! There was no reason for her delay and am told that she is usually late. Some people!

Have a great day!

[Dawn309]

Morning all.

Red, glad you are not hurting as much. Paper plates and take out food is always good.

Carolb, I checked into the insurance pool here in Texas. Because of my pre-existing conditions it would cost me more than $800 a month to have major medical insurance. No insurance company likes the MS medication costs. The shots I am supposed to be taking cost $1350 a month by themselves to help me keep being able to walk. That does not count all the pain management meds I had been on for years or the other shots I should be taking to control episodes. I have looked into getting assistance for the shots with paperwork from my doctor. Problem is I have too many assets so I don't qualify for any kind of assistance. I did sign up for a small plan that allows me 5 doctors visits each year with just a $25 co-pay. Will give me some help with prescriptions. This is $268 a month. Does not include any hospitalization or anything major medical. It is better than nothing. Does not pay for any testing. Will go to doctor in December when we get back to home base. Just going to get prescriptions for pain management meds. Otherwise, will keep taking the ibuprofen/tylenol nightime help.

Watching Sandy to see where she will come on shore. A lot of my family is in Connecticut and they had a rough time with Irene last year. Hope they don't get hit like that again. Sure hope eveyone who is able, gets out of the path.

Everyone have a wonderful day and if you are traveling, stay safe.

[Nasoosie]

GOOD MORNING TO ALL!

Happy to hear that Red will venture out today to watch a neat show! Nice to hear from Janice today, despite her lack of sleeping! I, too, woke up with CNN's coverage of the Hawaian tsunami possibility following western Canada's relatively strong quake. I was very glad it turned out to be just a practice evacuation, and that everybody obeyed as they should have-----tidal waves are nothing to bargain about.

Our winds and heavy rains here in upper NY State are due later today and into tomorrow and Tuesday. My plans for today are to fill up all my water jugs, go to Price Chopper and get easy-to-prepare groceries for Mandy, Orion, and me for a few days. I still have enough propane (a full tank plus some in the other) and enough gasoline to run my generator for a spell. The huge trees near this house and trailer here are worrisome as heavy winds could blow them down. Time will tell.

Everyone on the coast I hope has moved inland more, and I wish you all luck with your properties. It sounds like a very powerful, scary storm. Hunker down and stay safe!

[Barbzeee]

well I have been up and about and done my weekly "life pills" so I'm god for mother week...

Carolyn about Madona concert she does that often I will never go again nor will I ever buy or support anything to do with her!

Hubby is coming along still has dull pain but not as bad..wished they would have just removed the appendix and be done with it. That happened to me in my 20s.....and did I finally have major issues. But I'm here and he's there so I just have to go along with the way it is..

Weather is a little cool right now but still nice and watching where Sandy is going. Yikes. ,

Red I wouldn't worry about the paper plates. Look less clean up just a clean sweep. Hahaha. Boy I can't wait to see all the neat pictures and all the goodies that are gonna be served...

Psst if you check face book for what I posted Hahahaha it's a pretty good looking French toast another easy version...already got hints from Nan when she shows up what she wants for breakfast. Hahahaha.

Hope you all have a great day and hose traveling. Stay safe and enjoy

God bless

Zeee and critters 3


Ps just put pot roast in crock pot. That's what's for dinner.

[JudyJB]

I am having sleep problems, too. Mostly, I think it is because I crossed two time zones in three days and my body still thinks I am on Arizona time, which is the same as Pacific time because they do not have daylight savings time. So I finally fell asleep last night around 2:00 am and woke up at 9:30 am. Not enough sleep but got up so I could get to sleep earlier tonight and try to adjust.

Very cold last night and I am burning up propane fast. I need to dig out my new electric heater so I don't run out of propane in the middle of the night. I have a half-tank but that last half always seems to go much faster than the first half. Heater is buried somewhere in my narrow pass-through. Son packed it full and pushed stuff deep into it to get more stuff in. Would really prefer to keep things handier!

Watched a group of three people car-camping at 1:30 am rearranging stuff, and maybe changing clothing. No one around me and they are even farther away than other campers, but I would hate to do that in the middle of the night. Don't know where they all slept but they did not have a tent. Glad to have my nice, big, warm motorhome!!

Working on catching up on grading stuff that didn't get done last coupld of days when I had no internet access. Got a first-ever note from librarian that the topic I chose for them to write on was too hard to find stuff on, especially with the narrow parameters I had given students, so I gave them an extension and an alternative topic. I know the librarians well, and when they say the info is just not available, I believe them!! Purpose is to learn electronic database research skills and report writing skills, so topic really does not matter anyhow.

Have a good day, all, and stay safe on the east coast.
Slowly edging east, so will be at GTG on Tuesday. Hard to believe that I have been doing this full-timing for almost 5 months!

[avalen]

good morning ladies
wow, a sunami in Hawaii and Canada had an earthquake? Well now how come my news didn't tell me? grrrr, maybe I wasn't listening, Only have one
channel for news on the weekends and I do miss having cable with the weather channel.
I really had fun playing with the baby yesterday, he's quite the wiggly guy and doesn't cry all the time.
I don't really have any plans for today, maybe a little housework as I can see a few things that could use some attention in the tidying up side of
life.
Temps are cool this morning, was 63 at 6:30 but still feels nippy to me. Need to get the cat fed as I'm sure she'll be real hungry. Poor kitty never
accepted getting moved from daughters condo so she's lost weight and I had to buy some canned food to mix with her kibble to entice her to
eat more. Its working but I wish she would gain a little more weight a little more quickly. She hangs out in the backyard but will come in and eat.
However, as soon as she's done she wants back out as she thinks the house is a scary place. The girls don't intimidate her though so its not that.
She just plain didn't like getting moved.
Hope everyone in the east weathers the storm ok. Ya'll have a great day.

[BarbaraRose]

Good morning! Angel is being entertained this morning by a birdfeeder I put on the deck. Lots of birds coming by to check it out but it is driving her nuts!

Gotta run to my dad's pretty soon here and clean up a few piles of leaves left behind yesterday because the group of kids ran out of bags. Yesterday I bought a few little things to "jack up" my Jeep and make it more "mine" and also make it easier to identify in a parking lot. So many black SUV's around! I also need to buy a new stereo system for it since I can't make heads or tails out of the one that's in there now. It is SO complicated that I am lucky if I can even turn it on and off. I need something much simpler (on, off, volume, tuner, etc).

Hope you all have a good day and stay safe and warm!

[Paulette]

Not morning anymore, but thought I'd check in for a change. Looks like this area is going to take the brunt of Sandy as she comes ashore. Thought seriously about putting the kid and the cats in the rv and heading south by southwest. But, here I still am so guess we will just hunker down and make the most of it. I'm glad I have the rv for when the power goes out...at least I have a generator in there. My house sits high enough on a hill that I shouldn't have to worry about flooding, but the trees out back are awfully close and awfully big! Hopefully they will fall away from the house if they fall!

Well, I need to go secure more things outside in preparation for the winds to come.

[Liz]

I am settled back in my site in McIntosh on a lovely breezy afternoon. I'm getting quite proficient at hooking and unhooking my toad, and successfully negotiated the gas pumps at Walmart with it in tow. Of course, it was Sunday morning and no one else was there, but it was good practice anyway.

Got another couple of dr. Appts tomorrow in Ocala. Eye dr. and Cardiologist. Then a few days to play until the next one on Friday. I'll be glad when those are all over for another year.

I've been watching the weather station with those of you in harm's way as well as family members in mind. Stay safe. Glad you checked in, Pauline.

[Getupngo]

Not morning anymore, but thought I'd check in for a change. Looks like this area is going to take the brunt of Sandy as she comes ashore. Thought seriously about putting the kid and the cats in the rv and heading south by southwest. But, here I still am so guess we will just hunker down and make the most of it. I'm glad I have the rv for when the power goes out...at least I have a generator in there. My house sits high enough on a hill that I shouldn't have to worry about flooding, but the trees out back are awfully close and awfully big! Hopefully they will fall away from the house if they fall!

Well, I need to go secure more things outside in preparation for the winds to come.

Paulette, stay safe! That storm looks scary. Isn't it great to have the comfort of an RV backup? Hope you have full water, gas & propane tanks.