SLIGHTLY WARMER WEDNESDAY

[Nasoosie]

GOOD MORNING ALL!

Slightly warmer today at about 31 degrees, but low enough to make the grass crunchy and my windshield frosted over. Molly and I stayed in the trailer last night and my real bed sure did feel good! (I've been trying to stay warm by sleeping here in the house on the sofa) I turned on the electric heater in there, and we were pretty warm under my sleeping bag.

My daughter from OR called me last night, to catch up with me for a Mother's Day wish as she had just left a message on Sunday when I wasn't home. I was hoping it was a call from my son in FL to let me know the latest about the property they're looking at, but I still haven't heard from them. It was good to chat with Mona, however. We were hoping to meet here this summer, but there is just no time left for scheduling a family blast this year. We will do that next year so there will be enough planning time for everybody to make it. Most of my family has been fine with those plans, as most have summer stuff already planned. Next year will be the one to get us all together to celebrate my first year of freedom, IF I find I survive on my new income!

I am hoping that Dayspring Kathy will check in and let us know how she made out in Norman OK after that band of tornadoes swept through there yesterday. Kath, are you safe?

There is a heavy, black line in the northern sky this morning where a front is meeting the clear part----very ominous looking out there.

Coffee is hot, so c'mon in and tell us what's up in your world. Now that I've had my nasty, take-it-with-cold-water Fosamax, I can settle in with some warm coffee! Happy Wednesday!

[OregonMs]

Hi! Families these days. I'm here in Oregon (so's my husband), my daughter's is in Florida, and my recently married son (wedding, Red Rock Canyon, Nevada) is in North Carolina and soon heading for Germany. For awhile my husband took an offer he couldn't refuse and spent 3 years in Minnesota. My almost 80 y.o. mom is in MIchigan. All of the above make a good excuse for getting out on the road at any time, works for me. As for my kids, seriously, what did I expect after all that travel in their childhood, for them to live down the road from me? Well, yeah, but they weren't raised that way, I did it to myself. That's OK, it's not 1860. I can fly to them in a heartbeat.

Florida in July, I"m having a birthday 60th birthday for myself at Disney's Ft. Wilderness, specifically in a cabana at Typhoon Lagoon. My birthday gift to myself is to see them all in one place at one time. It hasn't been that long though my son's wedding was just this past March. My husband will be flying to Florida for that one, I'm still planning my route for this trip (not that plans mean anything). I hope it takes me at least three weeks to get there because I plan on leaving a month early.

Speaking of Florida, I recently bought real estate there. I'm now my daughter's (and her roomates) landlady. She's in a safe place and it's paying for itself, that was my goal. I know first hand about facing real estate transactions in Florida. I think tenacity is the word. It's no wonder that market moves so slow. Give your son my best.

One last family matter....a couple of years ago my just recently turned 50 sister went to bed and never woke up. Autopsy said "cause unknown". It shook my world. What did I get out of it besides grief? Never resent a birthday. Birthdays are gifts. Never take a day for granted, live every day like it were your last.
Live your dreams, at least try. She had a lot dreams, never got to follow through on one, I guess she felt like she'd always have time.

Anyway, it's early here in Oregon, I see the river and the coastal range out of my window as I type and the fog looks like it's burning off and it looks like a beautiful Oregon spring day is in the making. My husaband is gone for the week. I'm going to the coast for a few days with Lily (my dog). She'll appreciate that.

I can't believe I'm opening up so soon to you guys. I'm really not like that. This feels like a safe place.

Karen

[Bethers]

Morning all.

Interesting day so far. Yesterday, after the park offices closed, my electric quit. Discovered I could use my 20 amp outlet and have at least that power. But had to use an extension cord to that outlet, as it was too close to a wall for my adapter from 30 amp to fit there. Then I saw a park ranger driving through and stopped him. He said he'd be back first thing this morning - and about 7:45, here he was. While I was walking Peaches, he drove by me and said all was fixed. I got home and no power . Walked up to the offices and he came right back out. He's still not sure what the problem is - but after replacing things and cleaning things - I now have power. Let's hope this time it lasts. Peaches liked the extra walks.

Going to finally take a shower. Have things to do - places to be

Everyone have a great day - Soos, hope you hear soon about that FL property for your son.

Everyone stay healthy!

[Acadianmom]

OregonMs, your post made me realize why I had one son living in Seattle(now Houston) and one in New Jersey. I did it to myself. I hauled them all over starting when they were babies, what did I expect. The one in New Jersey had even bigger travel horizons than I did. He has been all over Europe. My sister's boys have never been more than 400 miles from home and she can't get them out of her house or yard.

My sister wants us to go the Disney World but if we don't hurry up we will have to rent wheelchairs. It would be nice to go without kids so we could see what we want. I stayed at Ft Wilderness one time and Disney knows how to do campgrounds. I had trouble getting the boys out of the campground to use the park passes we bought.

Martha

[bikerchic777]

Rainy and cold here in IA today Managed to take Rags out between showers. Now it is thundering and dark again. Of course, it's my day off! I'm not minding it so much, though. I did enough running around yesterday to last me for awhile As you may know, I'm looking for a little used pickup that I can tow 4 down behind Myrtle and use for work, kayaking, etc. I found a Dodge Dakota I like so may go back after the mechanic fixes some things. It was in a fender bender and they bought it from the ins. company, so would definitely have my mechanic check it over. They said they just had to replace the front bumper and fender. It LOOKS fine. I hate dealing with used car salesmen, so I need to pray about this

I gave in and bought a wild bird feeder yesterday. There are so many birds singing up in the trees that I can't see so wanted to bring them down into view. I already had a female Cardinal, male and female Rose Breasted Grossbeaks, and a Woodpecker on it today Also, a big fat squirrel So much for the squirrel proofness of it! Think I will have to lube the shepherd's hook pole. Who would guess that squirrels could shimmy up that skinny metal pole and hang upside down and eat out of that feeder? What acrobats they are I moved my finch feeder over to a window hook and now the Goldfinches are feeing right by my table and getting used to my movements inside. Talk about a birds' eye view I also saw my first Hummingbird at my Oriole feeder. I thought one buzzed me yesterday when I was out there, but wasn't sure if it was a Hummer or a huge bee. Guess I will give in and hang a Hummingbird feeder, too. What the heck! I'm becoming my parents I had to fill all kinds of feeders and baths when I was growing up. They were bird FREAKS!!! My mom still is, but doesn't get the variety I have here. I will have to bring her out here to bird watch. Now I just need a good pair of binocs

Karen...My kids grew up military brats and now my son lives in Orlando and my daughter and grandkids in Lincoln, NE. I get to see my DD and GKs off and on during the summer. The GDs take their turns coming to spend a couple of weeks with me and take swim lessons, etc. They are looking forward to visiting me this summer so they can stay in Myrtle with me and help me work at the lake. I was hoping the company my DS works for would get a contract at Pearl Harbor, but no such luck! He was born in HI and I was hoping to go visit him there Now, I think he's staying put in Orlando and will maybe have the opportunity to open an office there. At least he can keep his nice house with the pool and my old dog, Charlie, that way. I, obviously, move more than my kids, being a full time RVer. I feel comfortable with that since being a military wife for so long leaves me itching to move if I've been in one place too long.

One last family matter....a couple of years ago my just recently turned 50 sister went to bed and never woke up. Autopsy said "cause unknown". It shook my world. What did I get out of it besides grief? Never resent a birthday. Birthdays are gifts. Never take a day for granted, live every day like it were your last.
Live your dreams, at least try. She had a lot dreams, never got to follow through on one, I guess she felt like she'd always have time.

I totally agree with this!!! That is what motivated me to quit my wonderful job and start RVing. Life is short and precious! I talked to way too many people who wished they would have done this and never just did it. My mom is one of them. She always wanted to travel the country, but my dad was a home body, for the most part. I decided, even though I'm not retirement age, to go for it. I'm figuring it out as I go and am finding I like the simpler lifestyle and change of occupations. My adult life has been all about change so it works for me! At least this is one regret I won't have

Have a great day, girls! It's afternoon, but coffee is sounding pretty good on this dreary day

[ali1257]

Hello ladies

OregonMS...thanks for telling us about your family. I too lost a sister, age 54, in her sleep. She was on vacation with her hubby, went to bed one night and never woke up. Very sad at a young age. Today would have been her 56th birthday so she has been on my mind. Sent a note to her darling daughter to let her know we were thinking about her.

Just got a text from our son, Brandon. Danalyn is having a D&C at noon today. The doctor thought the baby would pass on its own but has not so the need for surgery is there. I sent him a note saying we will be praying for her and them as a family. Brings back memories of when I lost our little one at 5 1/2 months. Not an easy thing to deal with.

Hubby is at work this morning and will be home around noon for lunch. I go into work at 1:00 today to set up the ticket boxes. The carnival opens at 4:00 p.m. tomorrow. We are hoping to walk back into Port Townsend in the morning to go to the post office to send off a couple of cards and a gift for the grandsons in Idaho.

Well the dishes are calling so I had better get to them. Then need to make lunch for the two of us. We are going out for Chinese food tonight. Only the third time we will have eaten out since we got on the road on 3/21. A special treat for sure.

Hope everyone has a great day.

[jemek]

Good Afternoon,

Little late getting in here today. Normally I just read and not post since it is late. I figured I might as well.

It is a sunny day. Kodie keeps packing more and more bags for this weekend. The girls are in CampFire USA, and we have Spring Camporee this weekend. We will be at Camp Kirby on Samish Island. Kodie loves going there. It is a fun camp. I think she will have to leave some things behind. It is cute to see.

I do think I have to change things. Like not putting things on her calendar anymore. The last 2 mornings she had been up by 5:30 am. It is the excitement of going. She even told me last night. That it was 3 sleeps til camping.

Then I have to figure out what to take. We have club time and since we are family club. We have to pack activities...actually more for just Kodie as once we get there Mychal hooks up with her friends and I never see her except when it is time to eat. What makes it hard is packing for weather..I need more indoor things if it is going to rain. It is not suppose to..but you never know. So we usually end up taking more then what we need.

Well Kodie has finished her lunch and we have some school work to get finished.

We have the annual church BBQ tonight at 5pm and then Kodie has TopSoccer at 6:30. It is a soccer program for kids with special needs. She really likes having her sport.
Then Memorial Weekend there is a huge soccer tournament called the Baker Blast, so they are working on arrangements to see one of the other TopSoccer program can bring their kids up for a little exposition game/skills show. To bring more awareness about the program.

[BarbaraRose]

I know, I know!! It's after 5! Oh well... I have lots of good news!

I just got back from my job interview with the Great Clips salon. It went very well! I got along great with the manager and GM. Each GC's is different since they are individually owned. There are some good things about this shop and some not so good things, but the good things outweight the other stuff, so all in all it sounds like a great place to work! They are extremely busy so that means more tips and more bonus money! They offer good health and dental insurance for a lot less than what I was and am now paying. They have paid lunches but no paid holidays. I would get one weekend off per month. They don't hire anyone who smokes so that is a good thing for me! Their bonus pay is very good, much better than at the GC I was at before! Also, if I sell two products per day, I get an extra dollar per hour on the weekends! So lots of incentives and opportunity to make extra money! I have to go back on Friday afternoon and do a haircut for them but that is no big deal. Otherwise they sound like they plan to hire me (if I don't screw up the haircut!). I would start June 1st, so that will give me a chance to give a two week notice to my other salon boss. My office job is over at the end of May anyways, so that works out well! So I am very happy right now!!!

I also got a letter from my apartment manager about my upcoming lease which is up at the end of July. They didn't increase my rent at all, which I was really surprised (and happy) about. However, I am thinking of going month to month after July since I am planning to move to CA in August or September, so I will have to pay an additional $50 per month to do that, but that isn't a big deal either.

Also just picked up my new struts for my car that Steve so generously bought for me. Now I just have to make an appointment to have them installed.

(I am thinking I should go buy some lottery tickets today! )

The weather is gloomy today but is supposed to clear up tomorrow and be sunny and in the mid 70's all weekend and into next week!

Hope you all are having a good day too!

[mitch5252]

Barbie, hopefully your Little Black Cloud is moving to different stomping grounds!
Good for you on all the good news!

Now let's hope you don't screw up the haircut!!



..

[BarbaraRose]

Thats funny!!! Actually, my dad has that same cut done on his cat twice a year! His cat actually loves it tho, 'cause she gets too hot with all the fur. She sure looks funny tho for awhile! This cat doesn't look very happy tho! They call that the Lion cut. They usually leave a little ball of fur on the end of their tails too.

I sure hope my customer ends up looking better than that (and happier too!). I am supposed to do a short clipper cut (which I am actually real good at!) so it shouldn't be a problem. I can't wait to actually be offered the job! Last week's interview seemed uncomfortable to me, but this one was fun, relaxing, etc. They say the girls like to have fun and joke around which sounds great to me! That's the way it was at the other GC's I worked at and we had so much fun (until the new owner took over. Her motto was "The beatings will continue until morale improves!") . I also clocked the travel time to that location and it is barely 20 minutes (on backroads) so not as bad as I thought. And I get to drive around the south side of the lake now, so I get a new scenic view on the way to work and back. Can you tell how excited I am??

[Nasoosie]

YAYYY, Barbie!!!

I am so excited for you, too! That sounds like such a great job for you until you can move to CA, if you will still want to after earning such good moola all summer!

Let us know the outcome of the haircut!